Iraq's Ministry of Interior seized thousands of weapons, rounds of ammunition, and explosive materials in July as part of efforts to regulate weapons and place their possession under state control, an Interior Ministry official said Friday.

Major General Mansour Ali Sultan, assistant undersecretary for police affairs and secretary of the Committee for Restricting Weapons to State Control, said authorities seized 2,797 weapons of various types, 16,616 rounds of ammunition, 325 missiles and bombs, and 1,072 explosive items during the month.

Authorities also documented 2,106 weapons belonging to people visiting government offices, most of them pistols, including firearms carried by passengers at airports. In addition, 293 light weapons were recovered from civilian ministries.

Sultan said 20,792 privately owned light weapons had also been registered at official offices as part of the government's ongoing campaign to regulate firearms and consolidate weapons possession under state authority.