US and Iraqi troops capture 37 suspects in raids near Baghdad

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US and Iraqi forces detained 37 suspected insurgents over the past two days in raids in and around Baghdad, the US military said Wednesday. Iraqi soldiers backed by US special forces detained 21 suspects in two separate operations near Taji, north of the Iraqi capital, the US military said in a statement. The raids targeted people suspected of planting roadside bombs, it said. One of the suspects is a "known facilitator and manufacturer" of car bombs, the statement said. Another is accused of supplying weapons to an al-Qaida in Iraq cell in the area, it said. Another detainee captured Tuesday is a Shi'ite worker at the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and is suspected of using his position to kidnap and murder Sunnis in Baghdad's Jihad neighborhood, the US military said.