70 arrested in raid by Iraqi forces northwest of Mosul

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces arrested more than 80 suspected insurgents in raids across northern Iraq over the last 24-hour period, the US military and Iraqi army said on Wednesday.
In a single raid, the Iraqi army detained Tuesday 70 suspects northwest of the volatile northern city of Mosul, which has been a premier battle terrain since November.
"Troops from the 101st Battalion, 21st Brigade and 104th Battalion, 23rd Brigade Iraqi army detained 70 individuals suspected of insurgent activity during a cordon and search operation northwest of Mosul," the US military in Mosul announced.
A large number of AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades were confiscated, it added.
Separately, more than 200 Iraqi police and soldiers detained 12 insurgents in a pre-dawn swoop Wednesday on an industrial zone in southern Baquba, 60 kilometres (45 miles) north of Baghdad, said Iraqi army Colonel Ismail Ibrahim.
The troops stormed farms and homes and captured two men on a wanted list, while the other 10 were brought in for questioning, Ibrahim said.
One of the detained suspects was Egyptian, he added.
Iraq's insurgency has roiled central Iraq, where the majority of the country's Sunni Arab population favoured under Saddam Hussein lives.

03/23/2005 14:12 GMT