Iraqi forces capture six al-Qaida suspects

BAGHDAD, April 9 (UPI) -- An Iraqi special forces team under the supervision of the U.S. military arrested six al-Qaida suspects as separate raids uncovered a variety of illegal weapons.

The Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics team in Baqubah raided an area thought to be used by al-Qaida forces as a weapons storage area, the U.S. military said.

Officials said they also uncovered a small base that U.S. officials thought was used by al-Qaida leaders to hold operational meetings.

Iraqi army soldiers operating in an area just outside of Mahmudiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, uncovered a weapons cache consisting of over 300 mortar rounds.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces working alongside the Sons of Iraq discovered several weapons caches consisting of rockets and mortar rounds in operations in the northern Iraqi provinces, the U.S. military said.

In congressional testimony Tuesday, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the leader of U.S. forces in Iraq, said U.S-led operations uncovered more weapons cache in the first months of 2008 than in all of 2006.