"Task Force Ironhorse soldiers conducted a raid at a location near al-Hadid, believed to be a safe house for people suspected of involvement in mortar attacks against forward operating base Warhorse," said a coalition statement.

"The residence was searched and an important weapons cache was located and confiscated," it said.

The statement said "the cache included: 33 blocks of dangerous explosives, 98 feet of detonation cord, 20 blasting caps, and abundant volatile munitions used in improvised explosive devices."

"The soldiers also discovered "two rifles, eight fragmentation grenades, a machinegun, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 300 rounds of 7.62 millimeter ammunition, three rounds of 14.5 millimeter anti-aircraft ammunition, five AK-47 ammunition magazines, and one ammunition drum for a machinegun."

"No one was detained as a result of the raid but a terrain model of both forward operating base Warhorse and Scunion, found in the building, indicated that the raided location had been for planning attacks against coalition forces," it said.

A US military spokesperson told AFP the operation occurred "in the area of Tikrit," the birthplace and stronghold of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president ousted by the US-led coalition on April 9.

WAR.WIRE