U.S., Iraqis launch anti-al-Qaida offensive

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U.S., Iraqis launch anti-al-Qaida offensive
By Sameer N. Yacoub - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Feb 22, 2009 12:37:05 EST

BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces have started a new military offensive in northern Iraq aimed at rooting out al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday.

The offensive — dubbed Operation New Hope — has netted 84 suspects in the northern city of Mosul and surrounding towns, said Iraqi Brig. Gen. Saeed Ahmed al-Jubouri. Most of the arrests occurred in Tal Abta, about 50 miles west of Mosul.

Claims by Sunni Arabs and Kurds over disputed territory in the northern Ninevah province have fueled significant violence in the area around the provincial capital of Mosul. U.S. officials have called the city Iraq’s last major urban battleground in the war against insurgents.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have staged many operations against insurgents in Mosul and other areas north of Baghdad where levels of violence remain high even as they have significantly dropped elsewhere in the country.

The offensive comes more than a year after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki promised a “decisive” battle in Mosul against al-Qaida in Iraq.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_iraq_mosul_022209/%2e