Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi security forces uncovered a large cache of weapons, C4 explosives and ammunition inside a Hussainiya* in the al-Maamel area of eastern Baghdad, a security source told Shafaq News on Thursday.
The seized items included 5 million Iraqi dinars (about $3,807), three RPG launchers, 13 anti-armor rockets, 10 anti-personnel rockets and 18 rocket-launcher propellant charges.
The cache also contained two Russian-made Dragunov sniper rifles with four ammunition magazines, four AK-47 rifles with 17 magazines, eight M4 rifle magazines, a 9 mm pistol with a silenced magazine and another 7 mm pistol with a silenced magazine.
Other items recovered from the site included six 60 mm mortar rounds, three smoke mortar rounds, a BKC belt loaded with 100 rounds, another 100 BKC rounds, 600 AK-47 rounds, eight empty shaped charges, one ready-to-use shaped charge, one adhesive explosive device body, five locally made bombs and three anti-personnel radar mines.
Security forces also seized 32 blocks of C4 explosive and three barrels containing C4, packed in bags weighing about 250 kg. The cache held two wooden telescopic anti-personnel explosive devices, 1,465 standard detonators, 180 electric detonators, two large reels of detonating wire and 12 smaller reels.
The remaining materials comprised one large detonator and two smaller ones, three locally made detonators, 12 locally made wireless detonators, 275 neodymium magnets, one 25-kg jerrycan and one 10-kg jerrycan containing explosive material, 22 assorted hand grenades, and two mortar aiming devices.
The source did not say whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the cache or identify who the weapons and explosives belonged to.
Last August, Baghdad police seized a cache of weapons and ammunition, including nine rifles, 13 offensive grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade, during a security operation in the capital’s Hay al-Kufa area.
*Hussainiya is a religious and community gathering place used primarily by Shiite Muslims for worship, religious ceremonies and communal activities.