Iraqi Interior Minister Baqer Jabur Solagh confirmed Thursday that the most wanted terrorist in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been wounded.

"We have received information that al-Zarqawi was wounded but we don't know how seriously," Jabur told a news conference jointly held with Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi.

Al Qaida Organization for Holy War in Iraq said Tuesday in an Internet statement that its leader Zarqawi had been wounded in fighting and urged Muslims to pray for his recovery.

Earlier Thursday, the militant group said it had appointed a deputy to lead the group's fighting until Zarqawi recovered.

Washington has placed a 25-million-dollar bounty on Zarqawi, who has claimed to mastermind a series of deadly suicide attacks, kidnappings and hostage beheadings.

Meanwhile, the interior and defense ministers unveiled a new security operation to start next week involving more than 40,000 Iraqi troops in Baghdad.

"We will divide Baghdad into seven main areas in Rasafa (eastern Baghdad), and 15 main areas in Karkh (western Baghdad), and the forces that will take part in the operation will be more than 40, 000 security members," Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi told the joint press conference.

The security operation, aimed at cracking down on rising insurgency, will be the largest in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003 to be carried out by the Iraqi security forces from the interior and defense ministries, Dulaimi added.

"There will be a tough security belt around Baghdad like a bracelet around an arm," he said, adding "you will see unfamiliar security measures."

The interior minister said the operation, named Lightening, will be directed by his ministry to "render the government position from defensive into offensive."

Iraq has been gripped by a new wave of violence since a Shiite- dominated government was formed on April 28, during which some 600 people have been killed across the country.

Meanwhile, sectarian strife has also witnessed a marked increase, with killings of both Shiite and Sunni Arabs reported.

Source: Xinhua