Baghdad, 15 May (AKI) - A total of 833 people have been detained following
the Iraqi military offensive in the southern city of Mosul targeting
al-Qaeda militants.
A spokesperson for the Iraqi interior minister Abdel Karim Khlaf told the
Arab satellite television network Al-Arabiya that out of the 833 people
detained, only 51 of them have been released while all the others are
waiting for the results of investigations.
The Iraqi military offensive was divided into two parts. The first part
ended on Wednesday and led to the arrest of 560 people while the second
part, an offensive codenamed "Mother of Two Springs", began soon after and
up until Thursday had led to the arrest of over 270 people.
The US military said it was providing logistics and intelligence sup****t
for
the Iraqi-led offensive.
There have so far been no clashes because the militants are hiding inside
safe neighbourhoods and are avoiding open confrontation with the army.
In order to drive them out, the soldiers are searching all the buildings
and
going house to house looking for the militants.
The military chiefs have also not ruled out conducting searches outside
the
city.
On Wednesday, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, was in Mosul to meet
army
officials and local politicians involved in this new military offensive.
Meanwhile the army has ended the curfew during the day while it remains in
place during the night.
Due to the efforts of Sunni tribal militias, al-Qaeda militants have left
the province of al-Anbar and part of Diyala province, moving for some
months
to the area of Mosul where the number of attacks have recently increased.
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