BAGHDAD – An Iraqi citizen led Iraqi Army Soldiers to a weapons cache in the Sadr City district of Baghdad Aug. 4.“We saved a lot of lives tonight,” said Maj. Gen. Muzer, commander of the 11th Iraqi Army Division. “We will never know how many, but this is something of which we can be proud.”
Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraq Army Division, found the cache at approximately 7:30 p.m. The cache consisted of 28 107 mm Iranian rockets; one 107 mm Chinese rocket; seven 122 mm Russian rockets; 63 60 mm Iranian mortars; one 240 mm warhead; 25 Chinese fuses; 25 Iranian fuses; a propellant charge for a rocket propelled grenade; one 120 mm mortar tube; two Iranian 60 mm mortar tubes; one 81 mm mortar tube; eight 107 mm rocket launchers; eight mortar sights; improvised explosive device-making materials, and video tapes of attacks on Iraqi Security and Coalition forces.
The weapons cache consisted of new Iranian munitions with a manufacture date of early 2008. Both the 107 mm and 122 mm rocket types were used against the International Zone and civilian populace throughout Baghdad during late March and early May. There were approximately 1,100 rockets fired, resulting in 149 civilian casualties in that timeframe.
“This is a significant find not only because the IA has successfully eliminated a large cache of Iranian weapons, but also because this was entirely an Iraqi operation, supported by Iraqi citizens, deep in Sadr City where the IA operate independently of their U.S. advisors,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, public affairs officer for 4th Infantry Division and Multi National Division-Baghdad.