Authorities say a bomb concealed in a pickup truck belonging to the Iraqi Housing Ministry has killed three employees and wounded three others, a day after Iraqi soldiers arrested three leaders of Al-Qaeda in a raid in Diyala Province. Police and medics say the bomb went off Thursday morning in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.Late Wednesday, troops had raided two houses in the Kanaan district of Diyala, which lies to the northwest of Baghdad, acting on a tip-off, said General Mohammad al-Askari.
The main object of the mission had been the search for local Al-Qaeda leaders, he added. "We have arrested three, who were wanted and considered among the most dangerous," he said, without giving any other details.
During the raid on the second house, soldiers had killed three suicide bombers armed with explosive belts, he added. They seized about 10 bombs, six vehicles, weapons and other material, said Askari. He did not say if any other people had been arrested during the raid.
In mid-August Iraqi forces were attacked by "Al-Qaeda terrorists" at Kananna, about 10 kilometers north of Baqouba. During the fighting, Iraqi soldiers killed five of the insurgents and arrested 20 people. They subsequently found a village where tens of abandoned houses had been booby-trapped by insurgents.
Iraqi forces have over the past few months stepped up their actions against Al-Qaeda strongholds, notably in Diyala and in the northern city of Mosul. About 50,000 members of Iraq's security forces have been deployed in Diyala since July, backed by US soldiers.
But the province has been rocked by a series of attacks, the result of a deadly struggle between between Al-Qaeda fighters and members of so-called "Awakening" units. -