Baghdad, Iraq ? Flush with intelligence, the U.S. military moved quickly Friday to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, carrying out nearly 40 raids in an effort to stop his terror network from regrouping.

A U.S. military search of the destroyed safehouse where the al-Qaida in Iraq leader was killed Wednesday yielded documents and information storage devices that are being assessed for potential use against his followers, a military officer said.

An M-16 rifle, grenades and AK-47 rifles also were found, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because results from the search have not been announced. The U.S.-made M-16 was fitted with special optics.

They also found documents and unspecified “media,” which the officer indicated normally means information storage devices such as computer hard drives and digital cameras or other data storage devices.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said 39 raids were conducted across Iraq late Thursday and early Friday, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi. Those were in addition to 17 raids carried out immediately after the terror leader was killed.

He said at least 24 people had been detained and one person killed in the raids.

The military also revealed that al-Zarqawi was alive after two 500-pound bombs were dropped on his hideout, though he could barely speak.

“He mumbled something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short,” Caldwell said, adding that al-Zarqawi tried to get away after being placed on a stretcher by Iraqi police.

An official in the Iraqi prime minister’s office confirmed that the Iraqi forces arrived first, followed by the Americans. “I think our announcement was very clear yesterday and we don’t have anything to add,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite who was named to the key security post Thursday, said al-Zarqawi’s death came after a painstaking effort to collect accurate data and investigate every clue.

Police conduct a checkpoint in central Baghdad on Friday after the Iraqi capital was subjected to a vehicle ban in an effort to prevent reprisal attacks from suicide car bombs after the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

“The killing of al-Zarqawi didn’t occur by chance,” al-Bolani told al-Arabiya TV. “His killing will raise the morale of the people as well the morale of the security services.”

The death of Iraq’s most feared terrorist was the subject of Friday’s religious sermons in Iraq.

“The killing of the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi does not mean the end of terrorism in Iraq,” Shiite Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai said in the southern city of Karbala. He called on the government to “kill all the symbols of terrorism and kill all of (al-Zarqawi’s) associates to get rid of terrorism in our beloved country.”

American military officials have said that tips from within al-Zarqawi’s own terror network helped the U.S. locate and bomb the safe house where the al-Qaida leader was meeting in secret with top associates.

A top Jordanian security official said Thursday that Jordan had been tracking al-Zarqawi’s movements in Iraq since the triple hotel bombings in Amman last November and had provided information to the Americans about his whereabouts.