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.