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Iraq raids net al Qaeda suspects, bomb ingredients

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi troops found 100 gallons of nitric acid and other bomb-making materials Sunday during raids that yielded the arrests of 72 suspected members of the al Qaeda in Iraq network, the U.S. military said.

The "constellation of overnight raids" was conducted in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, the military said.

"Coalition operations like these continue to chip away at the al Qaeda in Iraq network, and we will continue to target them as long as they continue to injure and kill the innocent people of Iraq," said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver. (Watch the top U.S. commander in Iraq explain his formula for success )

Half of those arrested were captured during raids in Samarra, in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad, according to the military. The nitric acid and bomb-making ingredients were found during a raid in Karmah.

The Samarra arrests came as authorities banned all movement in the city in response to recent threats, most notably a threatened suicide attack on the Samarra bridge, a security official said.
The Samarra bridge has a dam that generates power and regulates water levels on the Tigris River.

The city went on high alert after the Islamic State of Iraq -- the insurgent umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq -- distributed leaflets to police in Samarra on Saturday, warning them that they have three days to "repent" or be killed.

The insurgent group also told police to use loudspeakers at mosques and marketplaces to announce their rejection of the "apostate state."

A daylight curfew went into effect at 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Saturday ET) until further notice, the official said.

Two hours after the curfew took effect, a group of gunmen traveling in about 30 vehicles attacked a convoy of fuel tankers just outside Samarra, kidnapping the drivers of 16 trucks and setting fire to the vehicles, a Tikrit police official said.

The convoy was heading from Baiji -- the site of Iraq's largest oil refinery -- to Ramadi, in Iraq's volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad, the police official said.

In February 2006, Sunni extremists launched a strike against the Askariya Mosque, a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

The assault sparked reprisals against Sunnis by Shiite militias and death squads, and those strikes were countered by Sunni insurgents, including al Qaeda in Iraq, who attacked Shiite targets.

Death toll in Karbala blast climbs
The Salaheddin and Anbar raids were conducted a day after a suicide bomb attack in Karbala left 75 people dead and 175 wounded, an Interior Ministry official said, updating Saturday's death toll of 58.

The suicide blast erupted between two Shiite shrines in the holy city as worshippers made their ways to evening prayers, Karbala police said. (Watch smoke pour into the sky after the bombing )

Enraged residents have accused the police of failing to protect them, and there were reports of residents throwing stones at police after the blast.

Karbala, south of Baghdad in Iraq's Shiite heartland, is one of the world's holiest Shiite hubs and is frequently visited by pilgrims drawn to the Imam Hussein shrine, which commemorates the martyr Hussein -- the Prophet Mohammed's grandson.

Saturday's attack occurred between the Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines. The bombing was at least 150 meters from the Abbas shrine and at least 300 meters from Hussein shrine.

It is the second bombing to leave dozens dead in Karbala this month. On April 14, a car bombing in Karbala killed 44 people and wounded scores more.

Other developments

A British soldier was killed Sunday morning in a small-arms attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where the British military in Iraq is based, according to the British Ministry of Defense.

The attack happened about 9:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. ET) while the soldier from the 2nd battalion of The Rifles was on routine patrol in the Ashar district, east of central Basra, the ministry statement said. With the death, 146 British military personnel have died in the Iraq war.

Iran announced Sunday it will send a high-level delegation led by its foreign minister to this week's conference on Iraqi security, despite a previous report that it would not attend the meeting unless five Iranians were released by the U.S. military in Iraq. (Full story)

Lt. Col William H. Steele, former commander of the U.S. Army's Camp Cropper, a detention facility for "high-value" detainees, will face an Article 32 hearing Monday after being accused of "aiding the enemy" by providing cell phones to Iraqi detainees. The hearing is a preliminary procedure to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to order a full court-martial against Steele.
Poor construction, improper design, substandard materials and lack of maintenance have caused the failure of seven of eight U.S.-funded Iraq reconstruction projects that were recently reviewed by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, according to an Inspector General report. (Full story)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday his country has "no illusion" that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq on an open-ended mission, but denounced the war spending bill passed last week by the U.S. Congress that calls for a withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq. "It was extremely unhelpful linking the funding of troops to a specific timetable," Zebari said. "It adversely affects our plans and the military plans here, and emboldens our enemies."

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Ingrid Formanek and Hugh Riminton contributed to this report.

This information is copied from www.cnn.com

posted by mhai @ 10:06 AM