Raids Yield 74 Iraqis, Caches of Weapons

A U.S. military spokesman said Sunday that soldiers had conducted nine raids and detained 74 Iraqis in the preceding 24 hours.

Near the northern city of Kirkuk, soldiers of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division on Saturday found eight SA-7 surface-to-air missiles, seven mortar tubes, and “a substantial number of electrical switches” used in homemade bombs, division spokeswoman Maj. Josslyn Aberle said.

In Baghdad, Iraqi police found another cache late Saturday, recovering about a dozen small rockets, grenades and mortar shells.

Elsewhere, Polish forces in Iraq reported Sunday that one Iraqi was killed and a second was detained after a gun battle with a Polish patrol near Hillah, south of Baghdad. It was the first fatality in a clash involving the Poles, who took over control of a sector in south-central Iraq on Sept. 3.

Seventeen members of Congress, meanwhile, took a tour of Iraq’s dilapidated infrastructure Sunday, getting a firsthand look at the daunting task of rebuilding the nation before they vote on President Bush’s $87-billion funding request, which is expected to pass.