Iraq finds car bomb cache

2005-11-25 19:36

Kut - More than 300 mortar shells and other explosives destined to be used in car bombs were discovered on Friday by Iraqi police at an abandoned military base near the border with Iran.

Saleh al-Shumari, police chief in Aziziya, 80km southeast of Baghdad, said the mortar shells were left over from the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), while the explosives were more recent.

Both were being used by insurgents to build car bombs, he said, adding that the long disused base in the al-Daynah region had been taken over by insurgents.

Iraqi officials, along with their British and American counterparts, have long accused Iran of supporting elements of the insurgency in Iraq.

In a recent trip to Iran, however, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani announced that he had received assurances from Iran about helping end the insurgency.

- AFP