Iraqi Security Operation Kill 57 Al Qaeda Suspects - East Idaho News
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Iraqi Security Operation Kill 57 Al Qaeda Suspects

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GETTY 2414 IraqMap?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1391507650069Marcio Silva/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Hoping to turn the tide against a stubborn insurgency, Iraq’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that a security operation killed close to five dozen members of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The offensive involving soldiers and police took place in the Anbar province city of Ramadi, a hotbed of insurgent violence.

Parts of Ramadi, as well as most of the western city of Fallujah, have fallen under the control of al Qaeda.

The Iraqi government is determined to retake those cities ahead of this year’s national election as voters choose a new parliament that will ultimately decide whether Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki remains in office.

Violence has picked up dramatically in Iraq over the past year with a reported 1,000 fatalities in January alone.

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