BAGHDAD, Iraq — American troops uncovered one of the largest caches of weapons to date near Saddam Hussein’s birthplace Saturday, finding 1,000 pounds of explosives used to make the homemade bombs that have killed many U.S. soldiers.

U.S. forces unearthed the weapons during a raid on a farm outside the village of Uja (search), which is close to the volatile city of Fallujah. It was the second raid in as many days on the farm.

Soldiers dug through the soft earth near a riverbank to uncover the stash, which was protected by a covering of reeds and straw. The weapons included 23 Russian-made surface-to-air missiles; four rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 115 rockets; a mortar and 40 mortar rounds; 1,300 blasting caps and 423 grenades.

"This is a significant discovery because everything we take out of the enemy's hands can't be used against us," said Maj. Mike Rauhut (search), executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

The SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles could have been fired at helicopters used by the U.S. military in and around Tikrit.

The raid was a follow-up on information gleaned following a Thursday assault on the farm, a 2-square-mile spread of lime, pear and pomegranate trees.

"It's tied to some former regime people. That's always good as it makes a small dent on their ability to resist," Rauhut said...