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Monday, December 20, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Iraq foils Al Qaida in first solo security operation

BAGHDAD — Iraq's security forces have succeeded in their first major operation without direct U.S. military help.

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Officials said Iraq's military and security forces prevented Al Qaida suicide bombings during a Shi'ite festival in the south. They said at least 80 Al Qaida suspects were arrested in what was believed to have foiled a series of mass-casualty attacks on Shi'ite pilgrims in mid-December.

"Based on intelligence, soldiers were able to raid 14 terrorist cells and arrest 80 militants," Iraqi Gen. Othman Al Ganemi, responsible for five provinces, said. "They were planning to attack pilgrims on Friday [Dec. 17]."


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In all, two million pilgrims visited Karbala during Ashura, the annual 10-day Shi'ite festival that ended on Dec. 18. Officials said those Al Qaida suspects arrested were part of a new cell called the "Boys of Heaven."

This marked the first major Iraqi security operation conducted without direct U.S. assistance. Officials said this was a vital demonstration of Iraq's capability to operate without the U.S. military.

The Iraqi operation was comprised of 28,000 soldiers and police in Karbala. Officials said another 7,000 officers were outside the Shi'ite city, about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad, in case of emergency.

Al Qaida operatives, however, succeeded in anti-Shi'ite operations in other cities. In Baghdad, at least 10 Shi'ites were killed in the Ashura procession on Dec. 14.



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