"Security forces carried out an operation to search Hayy al-Bakr area on the banks of the Euphrates River in Heet district, discovering a cache of weapons containing 430 improvised explosive devices and large quantities of weapons and equipment," says Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi, the commander of Anbar Operations.
Similar weapons caches have been left behind by retreating Daesh members, who leave IEDs, military-grade weapons, and rockets in a system of underground tunnels to be found by the advancing Iraqi military. The tunnels are swept by army and police forces who seek to eliminate remaining Daesh cells in the liberated areas, enabling displaced people to return to their homes.
Earlier last week, Anbar Operations Command announced that a smaller cache of 78 IEDs was destroyed north of Ramadi.
"Our ground troops managed to detonate 78 improvised explosive devices, 19 explosive belts, a booby-trapped vehicle and a booby-trapped house in the areas of Albu Diab, Zawya Albu Nimer and Albu Risha," operations command stated.