Abu Ghraib Detainees Released - Bombs and Weapons Found in Iraq

Hundreds of security detainees were released from prison today, and multiple bombs and weapons caches were discovered in Iraq over the last few days, U. S. military officials reported.

About 500 security detainees were released from Abu Ghraib prison. Those released were not guilty of serious or violent crimes, such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder, and all have admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq, officials said.

In other news from Iraq, a young girl phoned in a tip about a possible roadside bomb to coalition forces yesterday, after she saw a white bag in a hole on a road in southeast Baghdad.

When coalition forces investigated, they found a man hiding in the grass by the road, four masked men in a car, a man carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and two suspected triggermen in the prone position. Coalition forces prevented the terrorism suspects from carrying out an attack, and an explosive ordinance team disabled the bomb, officials said.

Troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, discovered a bomb under a pile of hay near Ramadi after receiving a tip yesterday.

A bomb squad responded to the site and found a 155 mm round, a 12-volt battery, a washing machine timer and a radio base station. A bomb team disarmed the device and recovered the contents for later analysis and disposal.

Iraqi police also found a bomb made from a bag of explosives wired to a cell phone yesterday in Tal Afar. A bomb squad was called to the site, and the bomb was moved to a safe location and destroyed.

No injuries or damage were reported in any of the incidents.

Coalition forces found two large weapons caches Jan. 13. The first consisted of various rockets and rounds, blasting caps, a roll of detonation cord, a G3 rifle, a grease gun, an RPK machine gun, and six 50-pound bags of suspected bomb-making material. The second cache included recoilless rifles, various munition casings and numerous mortar fins, rifle springs and empty magazines.
(Above courtesy of DoD - American Forces Press Service and compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Security Transition Command and Task Force Ironhorse news releases.)