US raid bomb-making facilities in Iraq

US and Iraqi troops captured 84 suspects and destroyed a bomb-making facility in a series of raids in Iraq, the US military said today.

The operations took place last week but were reported today by the military.

Iraqi troops backed by US forces searched 33 homes and detained 82 people on Tuesday near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

Sixty-nine of those captured were released after questioning. The 13 who remain in custody were accused of planting roadside bombs, the statement said.

Two more suspects were detained on Thursday in a joint US-Iraqi mission near Mahmoudiyah, 20 miles south of the Iraqi capital, another statement said.

That mission also targeted people involved in bomb-making.

On Friday, US forces destroyed a weapons cache used for assembling improvised explosive devices in western Baghdad, the military said.

About 200 pounds of explosives were dispersed between two houses near a mosque in Ghazaliyah, along with timers, passports, detonation cords and several physics and engineering books, a statement said.