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BAGHDAD — Hundreds of terrified Christian families have fled Mosul to escape extremist attacks that have increased despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to secure the northern Iraqi city, political and religious officials said Saturday. Some 3,000 Christians have fled the city over the past week alone in a "major displacement," said Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, the governor of northern Iraq's Ninevah province. He said most have left for churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in nearby Christian villages and towns. "The Christians were subjected to abduction attempts and paid ransom, but now they are subjected to a...

BAGHDAD — Christians in Mosul are fleeing their homes after a spate of killings this week that left 12 Christians dead in one of the largest Christian communities in Iraq . The killings follow large protests by the community last month against the passage of the provincial elections law. An article that would give representation to Christians and other minorities was removed from the law before its passage. Now the last safe haven for Christians is gone, said Canon Andrew White the vicar of St. George's church in Baghdad . After a spree of killings and forced evictions of Iraqi...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2008 – A terrorist detonated a suicide vest Oct. 5 in Mosul as coalition forces were trying to capture a wanted man. Coaliton forces entered a building looking for the man and were shot at by enemy fighters. One man in the building detonated the vest he was wearing. No coalition force injuries were reported. Five suspected terrorists, along with three women and three children, were killed. Forces searched the building and found a weapons cache holding various small arms weapons and explosives. In other operations today, forces near Baghdad captured two wanted men and detained two...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2008 – Coalition forces captured three wanted men and detained eight additional suspected terrorists yesterday and today during operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq in and around Baghdad and Mosul, military officials reported. Southeast of Mosul yesterday, coalition forces targeting al-Qaida communication networks captured one wanted man believed to be a courier for the terrorist organization. The man, who identified himself to coalition forces during the operation, is also believed to have connections to al-Qaida communication lines coming out of Mosul. Today in Mosul, a coalition force operation targeting a wanted man believed to be a foreign terrorist...

Mosul (AsiaNews) - The Iraqi Christian community is again in the sights of Islamic fundamentalists in Mosul: today news came of the death of a 65-year-old doctor, Tariq Qattan, kidnapped recently by a terrorist group. AsiaNews sources say that his family had paid a ransom of 20,000 U.S. dollars. But it was not enough money to free Tariq Qattan, one of the many Christians kidnapped by fundamentalists for extortion. Also in Mosul, two days ago - although the news has just been released today - another Christian, Nafi Haddad, was kidnapped and killed. It is not yet known whether or...

American troops have foiled an apparent plot to tunnel under the Mosul provincial hall and destroy the building with explosives, officials said Tuesday. According to U.S. military officials in northern Iraq, at least two alleged al-Qaida in Iraq members were detained Monday in connection with the plot. The two men were detained "during a patrol that led to a search of a bakery" near the provincial hall, according to a news release. "Soldiers were acting on a report regarding a planned bomb attack against Provincial Hall by way of a tunnel system," the release read. Mosul has been described by...

MOSUL, IRAQ: The Battle for Mosul over the past several years has worked as a microcosm for the larger Iraqi conflict, with Coalition and Iraqi forces successfully imposing its will only after Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups held large parts of the city and region for long periods. Control over the city of 1.9 million people and the surrounding Ninewa province have been lost to Coalition and government forces twice since 2003. Only a successful security operation in May has brought attacks to their lowest recorded levels since the conflict began. Operation “Lion’s Roar” in May involved 5,000 Coalition...

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a voter registration center in Mosul as US and Iraqi troops enter. When Iraqi Army Brigadier General Noor Aldeen visited his old secondary school in northern Mosul this week, he had little time to reminisce about placing first in spelling and arithmetic. His former school in the neighborhood of Al Nomaniya is an election registration site for upcoming regional elections in October, making it a popular place for a terrorist attack in the coming weeks. Almost all of the 57 registration sites in Iraq’s third-largest city are at primary and secondary schools --...

What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public? Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq. London's Sunday Times called it "the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror." A terrorist force that once numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200 fighters, backed against the wall in the northern city of Mosul.

The US military in Iraq says a militant killed on Tuesday has been positively identified as the leader of al-Qaeda in the city of Mosul. It said the man - identified by a pseudonym, Abu Khalaf - had co-ordinated and ordered many attacks. He was shot dead by American troops during a raid on a building in Mosul. US and Iraqi forces have been carrying out an offensive in the city for more than a month, in an attempt to drive out al-Qaeda in Iraq from Mosul. The city, US and Iraqi officials say, is al-Qaeda's last urban stronghold in...

MOSUL, Iraq — As priests do everywhere, Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, the leader of the Chaldean Catholics in this ancient city, gathered alms at Sunday Mass. But for years the money, a crumpled pile of multicolored Iraqi dinars, went into an envelope and then into the hand of a man who had threatened to kill him and his entire congregation. “What else could he do?” asked Ghazi Rahho, a cousin of the archbishop. “He tried to protect the Christian people.” But American military officials now say that as security began to improve around Iraq last year, Archbishop Rahho, 65, stopped...

Bill Roggio's images over at Long War Journal.Org were used in an AQI video recently released. The images of the aftermath of a suicide bombing in Mosul in March of 2008 were originally posted on Long War Journal.Org, as a part of Bill Roggio's reporting. They can be viewed here. Apparently it was these same pictures that caught the eye of Al Qaeda in Iraq. According to LWJ's report on this account. "The 38-minute-long video, titled "The Islamic State is Meant to Stay," was produced by Al Furqan, al Qaeda's media arm in Iraq. Al Furqan has released few videos...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – Coalition forces killed a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader and three other attackers today and detained more than a dozen suspects in various recent operations. Coalition forces killed the al-Qaida in Iraq “emir” of Mosul and three other attackers. During the engagement, one man was killed while attempting to detonate a suicide vest he was wearing, and another attacker, a woman, was killed as she tried to detonate the same vest on the dead man. Southwest of Mosul, coalition forces detained two terrorism suspects, and two others were captured in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. In...

US Special Operations Forces scored a major victory in Mosul today. US forces killed al Qaeda's emir, or leader, of the northern city during a raid on a safe house. The emir, who has not been named, was killed after a Special Operations Forces team form Task Force 88, the hunter-killer teams assigned to take down terrorists in Iraq, stormed a building in Mosul. The commandos opened fire after one of the terrorists attempted to detonate his suicide vest was shot and another reached for a pistol. A woman with the group attempted to detonate the vest on the dead...

US soldiers in Baghdad captured an Iraqi arms dealer and "assassination squad" leader responsible for trafficking Shi'ite extremists in and out of neighboring Iran for training, the military said Sunday. The arrest reinforced long-standing US allegations that Iran arms, trains and funds Shi'ite Muslim militiamen inside Iraq - charges that Teheran denies. It also coincided with a two-day visit to Iran by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his second such trip in a year. The Iraqi prime minister, himself a Shi'ite, is struggling to keep Washington happy while reassuring Iran, the largest Shi'ite nation, that a proposed US-Iraqi security agreement...

Cruise the streets of Mosul, and you’ll see plenty of men wearing one of the Iraqi army’s handful of motley uniforms. You’ll see a similarly large number of men wearing the Iraqi police uniform. You’ll probably even run into several American soldiers wearing their distinctive digital camouflage. But what you won’t see is the tan, buttoned-down shirts worn by many "Sons of Iraq" volunteers. That’s because Mosul, unlike so many other parts of Iraq, does not use "Sons of Iraq" — the term the U.S. military uses for armed civilians paid by the U.S. to guard their own neighborhoods. Those...

MOSUL, Iraq, June 3, 2008 – The residents of Yarimjah, a neighborhood in southern Mosul, were apprehensive when Iraqi National Police officers arrived at 4 a.m. May 24. They had heard many rumors about the national police from neighbors and television. Iraqi National Police Col. Fasial Majed Muhsen listens to concerns of a villager during security operations in Yarimjah, Iraq. Iraqi National Police photo by Lt. Col. Mohammed  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. What the neighborhood residents experienced was unexpected. The 2nd Battalion, 6th National Police Brigade, under the command of Col. Fasial Majed Muhsen, moved into the...

American troops grabbed two al-Qaida in Iraq bombing suspects and a Shiite militia leader Tuesday in separate raids north and south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.The command also said U.S. soldiers killed four other suspects a day earlier after coming under fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Shiite sections of the capital. The troops seized dozens of rifles and several rounds of ammunition, the statement said.One of the two al-Qaida suspects, who was captured with four aides in Mosul, is believed to have overseen security for the group's branch in that northern city, the military said. Mosul...

THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S....

Don't look now, but the U.S.-backed government and army may be winning the war.[From the Washington Post!] THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled...

BAGHDAD — Sunni insurgents converted a water tanker into a Trojan Horse to mount a surprise attack on an Iraqi police checkpoint near Saddam Hussein’s birthplace of Awja, the police said Thursday. But the police responded with heavy fire, and in the end, 14 of the attackers were killed, while two officers were seriously injured. The attackers hid inside a split-level Mercedes water truck originally built to carry drinking water and cattle, which had been modified to hide more than a dozen gunmen, a police spokesman said in Tikrit.After the truck approached the checkpoint near Awja, where Mr.Hussein is also...

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2008 – Last week, Iraq experienced the lowest level of “security incidents” since March 2004, a reduction that military officials attribute in part to improvements in Iraqi security forces. “The collective efforts … to increase the capacity of the Iraqi security forces is a key part of the reason why we saw last week the lowest level of security incidents in Iraq the past four years,” Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said this morning during a news conference in Baghdad. “It is also why we are seeing Iraqi citizens increasingly supporting their...

Ata Taha tied the knot with his university sweetheart in a popular park and traditional meeting point for lovers in Iraq's northern city of Mosul -- but only after Al-Qaeda went on the retreat. "My family had advised me to have a private wedding or celebrate abroad but I stood my ground," the 26-year-old said proudly. "I got my wish -- I married my colleague and we did so in public."

Al-Qaida fighters and other Sunni insurgents have largely scattered from the northern city of Mosul in the face of a U.S.-Iraqi sweep, fleeing to desert areas further south, an Iraqi commander said Sunday. He vowed the forces will not allow them to regroup. The U.S. military said al-Qaida in Iraq was "off-balance and on the run" but remains a very lethal threat, tempering remarks by the U.S. ambassador a day earlier that the terror network was closer than ever to being defeated. The comments came amid a flurry of attacks in Baghdad and other areas, most likely attributable to Sunni...

Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level in more than four years, figures released by the US military showed on Saturday, but officials said progress was still fragile and reversible. Iraqi security officials said an offensive against al Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul, which the US military says is the Sunni Islamist group's last major urban stronghold, had wiped out most of the insurgent network.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Saturday that al-Qaida's network in the country has never been closer to defeat, and he praised Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for his moves to rein in Shiite and Sunni militant groups. Ryan Crocker's comments came as Iraqi forces have been conducting crackdowns on al-Qaida militants in the northern city of Mosul and on Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra. Thousands of Iraqi forces also moved into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad last week imposing control for the first time in years. But truces with the powerful...

A 10-DAY drive by Iraqi troops has dismantled al-Qaeda's network in Iraq's northern city of Mosul regarded by the US as the jihadists' last urban bastion, the interior ministry says. "Operation Mother of Two Springs has enabled us to dismantle and weaken the al-Qaeda network in Nineveh province," spokesman Abdel Karim Khalaf said. A total of 1480 people have been detained since the operation began on May 14, Khalaf said. US ambassador Ryan Crocker said Iraqi troops had displayed leadership in the Mosul operation and the al-Qaeda network was close to being completely defeated. Speaking to reporters during a visit...

BAGHDAD — The number of daily attacks in Mosul has dropped at least 85 percent since U.S.-Iraqi forces began an offensive against Sunni insurgents in the city earlier this month, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said U.S. and Iraqi forces had not met fierce resistance since the operation began on May 10, largely due to the large numbers of troops on the street, an initial curfew and extensive preparations and construction of new checkpoints. But he warned that was likely to change as the extremists try to regroup. "We anticipate there will...

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2008 – More normalcy returns to northern Iraq every day, even as Iraqi and coalition forces continue to hunt down extremist groups, a senior military official said May 16. Many areas in the region -- which stretches from Baghdad to Iraq’s border with Syria and Turkey -- continue to show signs of a return to normal life for the people who live there, Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, who commands Multinational Division North and the Army’s 1st Armored Division, told online journalists and “bloggers” in a conference call. In Iraq’s Diyala province, for example, very little...

Iraqi security forces, back by US forces, are pressing the offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups in Mosul and Ninewa province. The operation, which initially was called Lion’s Roar but has morphed into Operation Mother of Two Springs, has netted more than 1,100 al Qaeda and insurgent operatives. Today, the Iraqi Army reported it captured the “Prince of Ninewa” during a raid. The Iraqi is planning an amnesty and may be forming an Awakening in Mosul proper, a source toldThe Long War Journal. The “Prince of Ninewa” captured? The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior reported on...

A leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. The archbishop of the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped in February by gunmen who attacked his car, killing his driver and two bodyguards. His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later. The Iraqi government said the criminal court had imposed the death sentence on Ahmed Ali Ahmed, known as Abu Omar. The US embassy in Baghdad welcomed the verdict. Who are the Chaldeans? "Reiterating our condolences to the archbishop's family and community, we commend...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Special Operations Forces detained four suspected terrorists, for attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces, during separate operations in Baghdad and Mosul May 14. In Baghdad, ISOF detained two individuals including a cell leader for Islamic State of Iraq, a front organization for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The men are suspected of conducting indirect fire attacks against Victory Base Complex and improvised explosive device attacks against Baghdad International Airport and Sons of Iraq. In Mosul, ISOF conducted operations that led to the detaining of two suspected IED cell members who are reportedly responsible for IED attacks against the...

With the Mahdi Army subdued in Basrah and a cease-fire under way with the Sadrist movement in Sadr City in Baghdad, the focus of the Iraqi government has shifted to the northern city of Mosul, where al Qaeda maintains its last urban stronghold. On May 10, the Iraqi security forces launched Operation Lion's Roar in an effort to roll back al Qaeda and allied Sunni insurgent groups. Al Qaeda in Iraq's last major ratline into Syria spans westward from Mosul into Tal Afar and the crossing point at Sinjar. The terror group is waging a brutal campaign to prevent the...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi and Coalition forces continued their joint efforts targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq elements in Mosul, detaining three wanted men during precision operations Saturday. Two of the wanted men are believed to have conspired to conduct bombing attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces. The other wanted man allegedly worked as a weapons facilitator for senior AQI leaders in Mosul. “Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to pursue terrorist elements in Mosul, ensuring there are no safe havens for AQI,” said Maj. John Hall, MNF-I spokesman.

5/16/2008 - SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Members of the Iraqi air force integrated and synchronized with Iraqi special forces in an effort to dissolve the al-Qaida in Iraq influence since early May in Mosul, Iraq. In less than two weeks, the Iraqi air force members have moved more than 3 tons of cargo and 251 passengers into Mosul using both fixed-wing and helicopter operations. "It's a new thing for Iraq's air force to back the forces in the Mosul's operations," said General Mohammed al-Askari, a spokesman for Iraq's ministry of defense. In addition to "bullets and beans" to...

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has offered members of armed groups in Mosul an amnesty in exchange for surrendering their weapons. He says the gunmen have 10 days starting Friday to hand over medium and heavy weapons and receive unspecified monetary compensation in return. The statement also offers amnesty to those described as "duped" into taking up arms against the government as long as they were not involved in crimes against civilians and did not "have blood on their hands." Al-Maliki's amnesty offer comes one day after he flew to Mosul to take personal charge of a major crackdown against al-Qaida...

BAGHDAD - Government troops began house-to-house searches for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in Mosul on Thursday, part of a major security operation to cleanse Iraq's third largest city from cells of the terror network. Described by the U.S. military as the last major urban base of al-Qaida in Iraq, Mosul has become the site of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's third security drive in two months as he attempts to defeat Shiite militants and Sunni extremists. Al-Maliki flew to Mosul on Wednesday to take charge of the operation by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. On Thursday, he sought to enlist the support of...

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country. Also Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, Iraqi police...

US slashes reward for al-Qaida Iraq leader By MATTHEW LEE and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has slashed its reward for the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq from $5 million to $100,000 because it feels he's lost effectiveness and is no longer worth such a steep price, officials said Tuesday. Over the course of the last year, the government first reduced the bounty for Abu Ayyub al-Masri from $5 million to $1 million and then removed him entirely from the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program, which pays tipsters for information leading...

BAGHDAD - U.S-backed forces have launched an operation against al-Qaida in Iraq's last urban stronghold, an Iraqi army commander said on Saturday. Maj. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the commander of military operations in Mosul, issued a statement announcing the beginning of the long-anticipated offensive in the northern city. The crackdown follows clashes in Baghdad between U.S. soldiers and Shiite extremists left 19 militants dead, and one American soldier died of non-combat injuries, the military said.

BAGHDAD — The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from U.S. forces. News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television.

DUBAI, March 9 (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has been arrested in Iraq, the Arabic television station al-Arabiya reported on Friday, quoting the Iraqi Defence Ministry. Arabiya said Muhajir, successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been detained in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation in Mosul in northern Iraq.

MOSUL, Iraq – Scores of Christian men lined up to join the Iraqi Police force during a recruiting drive in Tall Kayf, 15 km north of Mosul, April 28.The goal of the three-day event was to recruit up to 700 Christians to join the police force to help protect their respective communities in Mosul.“This recruiting drive will help bolster the economy through employment, in addition to bolstering the security effort,” said Col. Michael Bills, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.-30-

As Coalition and Iraqi security forces work to dismantle al Qaeda in Iraq’s network nationwide, al Qaeda is attempting to re-establish operations in its former stronghold in Baghdad as well as in the northern city of Mosul. Al Qaeda’s ability to conduct large-scale, coordinated attacks has diminished since the fall of 2007 as the security situation improved. But as yesterday’s suicide attacks in Baqubah, Mosul, Ramadi, and Baghdad show, al Qaeda still maintains some capacity to coordinate operations and target civilians. US and Iraqi security forces have killed or captured 53 senior members of al Qaeda in Iraq’s network over...

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2008 – Coalition forces captured an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq leader thought to be in charge of an illegal terrorist court system in the area yesterday in Mosul, military officials reported. Officials said he also is suspected of involvement in a local bombing cell. Three other suspects also were detained. Also in Mosul yesterday, forces caught a terrorist wanted for kidnappings, assassinations and the movement of suicide bombers. Three others also were detained. Elsewhere, the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement discovered a cache of anti-tank mines yesterday near the Iranian border. More than 160 anti-tank mines were...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2008 – Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 22 suspects during operations targeting al Qaeda in central and northern parts of Iraq today, according to coalition press releases. A close associate of a senior al Qaeda leader who attacked Sons of Iraq groups in Anbar province was the target of an operation in Baghdad. Upon moving into the target building, coalition forces encountered a man with a weapon. Perceiving hostile intent, they engaged and killed him. Eight suspected terrorists were detained during the operation. Also in Baghdad, coalition forces conducted a precision operation capturing an alleged...

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped 42 university students near Iraq's northern city of Mosul, while a US air strike in eastern Baghdad killed nine people, officials said. Iraq's political leaders, meanwhile, urged that militias throughout the country be disbanded in a move seen as pressuring radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his fighters ahead of provincial elections in October. Local army commander Brigadier General Khalid Abdul Sattar said the gunmen ambushed two buses which were ferrying students to Mosul from their homes in Shurkat, 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Iraq's main northern city. "Unidentified gunmen...

MOSUL — On Sunday March 23, Combat Outpost (COP) Inman, a new COP in West Mosul manned by the 2nd Iraqi Army (IA) Division, suffered a blow that al-Qaida in Iraq had intended to be fatal to the strategic post; a suicide-truck-bomb crashed through the gates at approximately 7 a.m., detonating in the main compound, killing 13 Iraqi Soldiers and wounding 35. “All the damage the terrorists have caused to the people and their homes, I do not understand these men, why would they do that?,” said Nami Ibhrahim, a Soldier in the 2nd IA Division, clearly more concerned about...

QAYYARAH — Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, with nearly 2 million people has been called the last terrorist stronghold in Iraq. Combating the insurgents in the city is a constant operation, which is handled by 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. When the fighting in the city takes its toll on the insurgents or they need to rest and re-supply, they run to the outlying rural areas of the Ninewah province to bed-down. It is in these outlying areas that Tiger, 1st Squadron, 3rd ACR, takes the fight to the insurgents on the run from the city and works to keep the...

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed seven suspected terrorists, detained 10 others and seized weapons and explosives in Iraq the past three days, military officials said. During operations today: -- Troops detained a suspected Iranian-backed “special groups” criminal and two other suspects early this morning in the Hillah area south of Baghdad. The targeted suspect allegedly had planned to assassinate Hillah police leaders. He also is suspected of providing special groups cells with $100,000 and operational intelligence, officials said. -- Ground forces captured a suspect west of Qayyarah who allegedly is tied to al Qaeda in...