Officials said the captured operative could be linked to a spate of
mass-casualty suicide strikes around Baghdad since August 2009. About 500
people have been killed in AQI attacks that targeted government ministries
and Shi'ite pilgrims.
[On Feb. 16, a bomb killed at least two police officers at a crime
laboratory in the northern city of Mosul. Officials said Al Qaida has been
targeting police facilities in several Iraqi cities.]
The AQI leader and several other operatives were arrested in three
counter-insurgency operations meant to suppress the Al Qaida network in the
Baghdad area. The leader was captured during a search in western Baghdad.
The Al Qaida leader was not identified by either the U.S. military or
Iraq. Officials said senior members of Al Qaida were hiding in the areas of
Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala and Kirkuk.
In another operation, Iraqi and U.S. troops searched for another Al
Qaida bomb cell. The cell was said to assemble improvised explosive devices
for AQI.
"The security team arrested the suspect after finding numerous
electronic components used to make IEDs and IED initiators in his apartment
and an adjacent workshop," the U.S. military said on Feb. 15.
Al Qaida was also said to have established a presence in Kirkuk, a city
split between Kurds and ethnic Turks. Officials said Al Qaida has been
maintaining several safehouses for cells and visiting insurgency commanders.
In a Feb. 10 operation, Iraqi forces searched for an Al Qaida member who
provided safe haven for senior insurgency operatives south of Kirkuk.
Officials said a suspected associate of the insurgency commander was
arrested.