Marine engineers working with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, found 12 large weapons caches during Operation River Sweep near Habbaniyah, Iraq, over the past week, officials said Thursday.

The engineers found the weapons in operations “designed to interrupt insurgent activity in the area,” Marine officials said. The areas west of Habbaniyah are noted for insurgent activity.

The caches included hand grenades, anti-tank mines, rockets, mortars and other explosives and ammunition. All the weapons were destroyed, officials said.

Iraqi court convicts arrested detaineesThe Central Criminal Court of Iraq, where U.S. troops routinely testify against those they have arrested, convicted 48 detainees between Dec. 8 and 28, officials said Thursday.

The cases included charges of murder, kidnapping, illegal possession of special category weapons, possessing and using a fake ID, use or attempted use of explosives, and illegal border crossing.

In one case, the court found a Syrian man and a Saudi man guilty of charges related to guarding a house containing a hostage. The court sentenced the men to death.

A Sudanese man found guilty of producing videos and fliers for al-Qaida in Iraq and was also sentenced to death.

Several other cases ended with sentences of life in prison.

Eisenhower sailor’s death investigatedA sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower died Sunday after being found unconscious, according to the Navy.

Seaman Sandra S. Grant, 23, of Linwood, N.C., was found about 11:30 a.m. in berthing, a news release from the Eisenhower says. Medical attempts to resuscitate Grant were unsuccessful.

An investigation into her death is ongoing, the news release says.

No further information on the cause and manner of her death was available on Thursday, said Lt. Denise Garcia, a spokeswoman for 5th Fleet.

The carrier is in the Arabian Sea supporting coalition operations in Afghanistan, the Eisenhower news release says.