Some members of the Al Qaeda terror network in Iraq have started to leave the country for other hot spots in Africa, like Sudan and Somalia, security sources told Gulf News. A key reason behind the change in strategy is the intensity of the latest military strikes launched by Iraqi and US forces against the terror network, which has been the major challenge in restoring the stability of Iraq, the sources said. 'Our intelligence information indicates the withdrawal of certain groups of Al Qaeda from Iraq because of the military strikes. Many of them have escaped through the borders with Syria and Iran to hotter zones such as Somalia and Sudan,' Major General Hussain Ali Kamal, head of the Investigation and Information Agency at the Interior Ministry, told Gulf News. 'I believe this is the beginning of the complete withdrawal of Al Qaeda from Iraqi territory.'
Sources at Iraqi Ministry of National Security revealed that documents and letters found in hideouts of 'some elements of Al Qaeda' during search operations in Sunni suburbs in Baghdad, which were previously under the control of Al Qaeda, 'prove these elements left Iraq for Somalia and Sudan'.