Global General

Al-Qaida leader captured in Iraq's Diyala

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-18 08:54

Iraqi security personnel search a vehicle at a checkpoint in the town of Jalawla, 115 km (71 miles) northeast of Baghdad June 28, 2010. [Agencies]

BAQUBA, Iraq - A child was killed in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Saturday, while the Iraqi security forces captured an al-Qaida leader responsible for dozens of attacks and killings against Iraqis, a provincial police source said.

Unknown gunmen shot dead a child in the town of al-Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

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Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene and captured four suspects as part of investigation to discover the motive behind such a crime, the source said.

In a separate incident, the Iraqi troops captured Zaid Hameed al-Kurwy, an al-Qaida leader, during a search operation in the town of al-Sa'diyah, some 140 km northeast of Baghdad, the source added.

Kurwi is responsible for the group's operations in the Himreen mountainous area in northern Diyala and is accused of dozens of attacks and killings against Iraqi civilians and security forces, the source said.

Also in the province, Iraqi security forces arrested seven suspects, including one wanted for charges of terrorism, said the sources.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite repeated US and Iraqi military operations against them.