Al-Qaeda defeated in Baquba, police chief says

Nov 12, 2007, 10:31 GMT

Baghdad - The al-Qaeda terror network has lost the war in the Iraqi city of Baquba but a few pockets of resistance remained here and there, the city's police chief said on Monday.

'Military operations will continue until the city is completely cleared of terror groups,' General Ghanim al-Kureishi, the Baquba police chief, told reporters.

The general revealed that at least 59 terror suspects have been arrested on Sunday in the town of Bihriz during joint US-Iraqi security offensive.

A key al-Qaeda operative was among the captives, he said.

A large-scale security offensive has been mounted since June in Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, to flush out al-Qaeda fighters.

The city is a safe haven for al-Qaeda loyalists who set up the so-called Islamic State of Iraq.

In Baghdad, the president of the office of Sunni endowment, Ahmad Abdel-Ghafur al-Samarrai, said the Baghdad district of Azamyah was completely cleared of insurgents.

Al-Samarrai, who is a prominent Sunni leader appointed by the state, said the coordinated efforts between the local population and Iraqi and US troops have led to the defeat of insurgents.

US troops have embarked in mid 2006 on building a controversial security barrier around Azamyah saying it would curb sectarian violence in the predominantly Sunni district.