US marines capture Iraqi ammunition depot

US marines captured a huge ammunition depot in south-central Iraq that included 40 warehouses, US Central Command said.

US marines captured a huge ammunition depot in south-central Iraq that included 40 warehouses, US central Command said on Tuesday.

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The facility compared in size to the ammunition dump at Camp Pendleton in southern California, which is home to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said a Central Command statement from its war headquarters in Qatar.

The marines, who suffered no injuries in the operation on Sunday, found "scores of ammunition, rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and various other small arms," the statement said.

It made no mention of chemical weapons, which US military leaders say they have yet to find in Iraq.

The Iraq invasion was launched by the United States and Britain last month to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for supposedly holding stores of chemical weapons.

Central Command said it would take several days to destroy all the captured ammunition and weapons.