Large Cache Containing IED building Materials found

12.19.2005

Story by Spc. Michael Pfaff 

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Spc. Michael Pfaff
133rd MPAD

Hawija, Iraq (Dec. 17, 2005) -- A large cache of materials used to build improvised explosive devices was recovered by Charlie Co. 1st Battalion 327th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division Thursday near Hawija.

The cache included several hundred radios, one of the key components for remotely detonating IEDs, artillery fuses, detonation cord, soldiering irons, and other tools necessary in creation of the explosives. A few grenades, instruction manuals and receipts were also found in the cache.

Charlie Co. investigated the site after aerial surveillance spotted suspicious activity in the area. They found five large barrels buried in the ground containing the cache.

The cache was believed to belong to a local IED fabricating cell, and recovery of the cache is expected to inhibit the cell's work by at least two months.

Intelligence located at the cache has led the Charlie Co. to the locations of other suspected hiding places insurgents have been using.

Today, a small cache was discovered in a rural farming area near here. The cache was suspected to have been larger with most of the explosives and materials being moved already.

Two unexploded 60mm mortar rounds, a mortar tripod, and some mortar tubes were included in the small cache.

"It was unfortunate that we didn't get there before they moved most of the cache," said Sgt. Steven Swisher, a squad leader from Charlie Co. "But, finding what we did will make it safer for us to be out here for a while."

• Date Taken: 12.19.2005
• Date Posted: 12.19.2005 14:37
• Story ID: 4142