Weapon caches seized in Iraq, al-Qaeda suspects held

Jun 8, 2008, 9:18 GMT

Baghdad - Iraqi security forces seized weapons caches, one of them near a suspected al-Qaeda safe haven in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, while US-led multinational forces captured a suspected al-Qaeda leader and his associate in Mosul, the US military said Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off by local people, Iraqi forces seized a weapon cache on the side of a berm near a house believed to have been used as a hideout for al-Qaeda in Iraq group in Samarra, the US military said in a statement.

Two SA-7 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile launchers and missiles with rounds were found on the site as well as mostly unserviceable ammunition.

The SA-7 missile is designed to destroy aerial targets.

'The find is the latest in a series of cache discoveries in the greater Samarra area over the past 40 days,' the statement said.

Among the uncovered caches was one containing more than 300 rockets in a well in the al-Jazeera desert west of Samarra.

In Baghdad's Sadr City district, the stronghold of Shiite Mahdi Army militia, Iraqi troops uncovered several weapon caches on Saturday, according to a US military statement.

Over 295 mortar rounds, machine guns, Russian-made sniper rifles, 123 grenades and artillery shells, 109 anti-tank mines and home-made explosives were among the uncovered weapons.

Iraqi troops moved into the slum area of Sadr City on May 20 after months-long clashes with the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The move came following a truce between both the government and al-Sadr.

In the northern city of Mosul, US forces captured an alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq group and another terror suspect during an operation on Sunday, the US military said.

The alleged al-Qaeda leader is believed to have been in charge of overseeing all bombing operations in east Mosul while his associate is allegedly a wiring expert, who orders and controls bombing attacks in the area, according to the military.