THE TENSION: OIF Summary, March 12, 2009: Troops in Iraq Nab Bomb Makers, Seize Weapons

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2009 -- Iraqi forces, with coalition support, captured a man wanted for bomb attacks and nine others, dismantled two makeshift bombs, and seized weapons caches in Iraq in recent days, military officials said.

Combined forces detained the man and nine others as they were attempting to flee the town of Murbat-Garha on March 7, officials said.

The troops had warrants for the suspects and were searching for hidden weapons in the area. Iraqi soldiers cordoned off the town, and detained the 10 as they were attempting to flee.

The soldiers uncovered a 120 mm round, an automatic weapon, and a video hidden in an irrigation ditch in a farmer's field.

In other operations:

Iraqi forces found and disposed of a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib district yesterday. There were no injuries and no damage reported.

Acting on a civilian’s tip, Iraqi forces discovered and destroyed a roadside bomb March 10 in northwestern Baghdad’s Kadhamiyah district. The bomb was beneath the driver's seat of the informant's vehicle. Iraqi police immediately notified coalition forces in the area and requested assistance with the removal and safe transport of the device. A coalition explosive ordnance disposal team dismantled the device, then moved it to a nearby base to be examined.

Provisional security forces in Saqlawiya discovered multiple weapons caches during a two-day sweep March 8 and 9 with the U.S. 7th Marine Regiment. The eight sites yielded 165 grenades and rockets, nearly 40 mortar rounds, 14 artillery rounds, several hundred rounds of small-arms and anti-aircraft ammunition, more than 225 pounds of rocket propellant and explosives, various weapons accessories, and a large stockpile of bomb components. Explosive ordnance disposal teams conducted controlled detonations to destroy the munitions.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers have discovered two weapons caches in Kirkuk in less than a week. The most recent cache, found March 6, included grenades, rockets, 82 mm and 60 mm mortars, a machine gun, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and various types of small-arms ammunition.