BAGHDAD (Agencies)
The Iraqi military announced the capture on Thursday of the man they say is the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq as at least 73 people were killed in two bloody suicide bombings.
"Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was arrested today in Baghdad," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qasim Atta told AFP. "It was Iraqi forces who arrested him based on an intelligence tipoff from someone."
Baghdadi is said to be the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, a self-styled umbrella organization for al-Qaeda affiliated insurgent groups fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Al-Iraqiya television said Baghdadi was believed to have been captured in eastern Baghdad. Security experts have previously speculated that Baghdadi was a character invented by some extremist groups rather than a real person.
He has been reported captured or killed several times in the past. |
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Two deadly attacks " Iraqi police were distributing aid to displaced families when a suicide bomber blew himself up " Interior ministry official The Iraqi military's announcement came amid a surge in bloodshed in two attacks on Thursday.
In the deadliest strike, at least 45 people, most of them Iranian pilgrims, were killed when a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in Muqdadiyah, a town northeast of Baghdad, a military official said.
Another 28 people, including children, were killed in a suicide attack on a police patrol in southeastern Baghdad, defense and interior ministry officials told AFP.
"Iraqi police were distributing aid to displaced families when a suicide bomber blew himself up," an interior ministry official said. "At least 10 police and five children are among 28 dead."
Fifty-two people were also wounded in the blast, defense and interior ministry officials said.
Security has improved dramatically in Iraq over the past two years as local and U.S. forces crack down on al-Qaeda fighters, but attacks targeting security forces are still common in some parts of the country, including the capital. |
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Danger not yet over " We have succeeded in re-establishing security, but maintaining it is more difficult " Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned on Sunday at a meeting of senior security officials that the danger from "terrorist cells" was far from over.
His remarks followed an upsurge in violence over recent weeks after several months in which there was a steady reduction in the number of attacks.
"We have succeeded in re-establishing security, but maintaining it is more difficult," Maliki told the meeting of senior police officers.
Iraq's 560,000 police and 260,000 soldiers are to assume greater responsibility for security as U.S. forces withdraw from all cities by June 30 and from the country as a whole by the end of 2011.
Violence has plummeted over the past two years as American and Iraqi forces have allied with local tribes and former insurgents to bring calm to vast swathes of the country.
However, more than 100 people have been killed since the start of April, according to an AFP count based on reports from security officials.
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