MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 11 suspected Al-Qaeda operatives who were hiding in a sheep truck near the northern city of Tikrit on Friday, the defence ministry said.
The men were killed in fighting at a checkpoint between ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Baiji, ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said.
"Members of the Iraqi special forces intercepted a truck transporting animals, but there were 11 Al-Qaeda fighters hiding in it," Askari told AFP, adding that one of the men was a foreigner from an unidentified Arab nation.
Askari said the truck was believed to be fleeing the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where the Iraqi army has been conducting a large-scale crackdown on Al-Qaeda since May 14.
In a separate incident in Tikrit, the US military said its troops shot dead a suspected Al-Qaeda weapons dealer and detained another man.
On Thursday, 15 suspected Al-Qaeda members were gunned down in the same region by a militia group loyal to the government.
Askari said a senior Al-Qaeda member was also arrested in Mosul on Friday and a haul of weapons, ammunition and bombs had been seized.
"Iraqi forces arrested the notable terrorist Usama Khalil Ibraheem al-Ahtabi in a house early on Friday morning, in the Al-Kalak region. This terrorist is one of the most important targets we have been chasing," Askari said.
In other violence, six people were killed in the restive province of Diyala north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
"A mortar attack took place on a house this morning, killing three women and wounding two members of the same family," said a police officer from Jalawla, east of Baquba.
"This attack targeted Jalawla police station in the heart of the village, which is close to the victim's house," said the officer, who requested anonymity.
In other incidents in the province, two roadside bombs killed a man and a child while unidentified gunmen shot dead a member of a US-backed anti-Al-Qaeda group.
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