BAGHDAD - Iraqi troops sweeping through the Baghdad stronghold of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have found large quantities of weapons, including helicopter missiles and an anti-aircraft gun, the U.S military said on Saturday.Some 10,000 Iraqi government troops entered the sprawling slum of Sadr City unopposed on May 20 under a truce between Sadr's supporters and ruling Shia political parties that ended weeks of fighting in which hundreds were killed.
A U.S. military statement itemising the weapons seized in the last three weeks gave the first real glimpse of the formidable arsenal that Sadr's feared Mehdi Army militia has been building up. The statement said government forces had seized 100 caches of weapons, including 295 mortar rounds, 367 AK-47s, 109 anti-tank mines, 39 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an anti-aircraft gun, six helicopter rockets, sniper rifles, improvised explosive devices, 123 grenades and artillery shells.
Under the truce agreed earlier in May, the Mehdi Army agreed to lay down their weapons and allow Iraqi forces to enter the slum. The militia, while vowing not to hand over their heavy weapons, has