The Iraqi army Thursday said that its forces detained 72 suspected militants of al-Qaida network, including a senior insurgent leader, near the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad.
"An Iraqi army force raided the Saqlawiyah town north of Fallujah on Wednesday night and detained 71 militiamen affiliated to the terrorist network of al-Qaida in Iraq," Major Jasim Muhammad Ubaid, commander of the local Iraqi army force, told Xinhua.
The Iraqi force confiscated a large amount of weapons and ammunition during the search of many houses in the town, Ubaid added.
Based on intelligence, Ubaid's force raided the Saddamiyat al- Tharthar area, east of Fallujah early on Thursday morning and detained Abu Azzam, a senior local leader of al-Qaida in the area, Ubaid added.
The commander of the force did not give further information about Azzam, saying his force is interrogating the detainee.
Residents in western Iraq often blame al-Qaida organization in Iraq for deadly attacks that claimed lives of many civilians.
Al-Qaida's adherence to a hardline form of Sunni Islam and indiscriminate killings has brought it into conflict with some Sunni tribes in the Anbar province where Fallujah and Ramadi located.
Source: Xinhua
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