American soldiers operating west of Baghdad have uncovered a large weapons cache that could be tied to a recent rise in the number of booby-trapped houses in the area, officials said Thursday.

The troops, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, seized the weapons near Thamir Village, near Abu Ghraib, on Thursday. The cache included 269 122 mm rocket rounds and 200,000 heavy machine-gun rounds.

Officials with the unit said the rockets have a longer range than most rockets used by insurgents and could also be part of a "rising" threat of booby-trapped houses.

"Because of the size and condition of this cache, this will significantly degrade the enemy’s ability to conduct attacks against the Iraqi Security Forces, the local populace and Coalition Forces," Lt. Col. Glen Blumhardt, executive officer of the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said in a news release.

"It improves the overall security situations."

Explosive ordnance disposal teams destroyed the weapons in place, officials said.

The find came after operations with Iraqi troops that seized around 20 other weapons caches in the Abu Ghraib area over the past week.

"This find makes a huge impact on our mission," Maj. Ben Eiser, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, said.

"It allows us, the [Iraqi army] and the residents to move freely in the area without fearing [improvised bombs] and other forms of attacks."

Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division seized a weapons cache west of Baghdad on Thursday that included 269 large caliber mortar rounds and 200,000 heavy machine-gun rounds.

More of the large weapons cache discovered west of Baghdad is displayed after the operation.