(VOI) – Iraqi forces deployed in the troubled eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City found a large amount of arms and explosives in different areas of the district, an Interior Ministry source said on Sunday. "Several Caches were found inside a mosque and another nearby building and a hospital. They contained hundreds of rifles, anti-tank landmines, bullet-proof vests, 100 missiles and large amounts of anti-armor shells," the source, who did not want his name revealed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). "The campaign came within raids conducted by hundreds of Iraqi soldiers in different areas of Sadr City in search of weapons," the source added.
Sadr City, a stronghold of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias, has been witnessing armed clashes since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced in March the commencement of a security operation codenamed Saulat al-Forsan (Knights' Assault) in the port city of Basra, Iraq's second largest province and an oil-hub, 590 km south of Baghdad, which he said targeted "outlaws." Hundreds of Sadr supporters were killed or wounded in intense fighting, which still continues. |