U.S., Iraqi Troops Detain 84 in Raids

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi troops detained more than a dozen people they suspect made roadside bombs and destroyed a bomb-making facility in a series of raids, the U.S. military said Sunday.

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

Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces searched 33 homes and detained 82 people 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 Thursday in a joint U.S.-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, U.S. 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.
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