Caches Near Bayji Destroyed

US Forces of 1-327 uncovered two large caches after a helicopter spotted multiple white bags being covered by tarps and blankets on Jan. 25:

BAYJI, Iraq – In the desert area west of Bayji Multi-National Division – North Soldiers uncovered two large caches after a helicopter spotted multiple white bags being covered by tarps and blankets Jan. 25.

When Soldiers arrived at the location, they discovered two different sites where tarps were being used to cover the caches. The first contained approximately 60, 50- kilogram bags of a substance used in the making of homemade explosives and the other had nine of the 50-kilogram bags. The other site also housed various types of plastic explosives, anti-tank mines, an improvised platter charge, a suicide vest packed with TNT and miscellaneous detonation wire and remote detonation devices.

“This is a huge find. There was enough explosive material to fill up half a dump truck,” said Maj. David Jones, 1-327th operations officer. “There is no telling how many lives were saved by taking this cache away from the enemy extremists.”

Military explosive experts destroyed all the munitions at both sites. After detonating the bags, the result of the hole was much larger than the EOD personnel had calculated. According to the EOD personnel, this may have been a result of more bags being buried underneath the discovered cache.