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Al-Qaeda In Iraq Down 75%, Baghdad Says

Posted Dec 29, 07 5:23 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – Al-Qaeda in Iraq is down 75%, one Baghdad official said today—but US Gen. David Petraeus maintained that al-Qaeda is still “the most significant challenge" facing the country. Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf attributed the alleged al-Qaeda cut to beefed Iraq security, armed Sunni fighters, and the recent US troop surge.

Meanwhile, Iraq's army reported that two key militants connected to al-Qaeda were collared yesterday. Khalaf said such arrests are cornering extremist groups in Iraq. "Their activity is now limited to certain places north of Baghdad," Khalaf said. "We're working on pursuing those groups, that is the coming fight."

Source Associated Press

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An Iraqi prisoner speaks to Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf while he escorts the news media on a tour of a detention center in the Kazimiyah neighborhood of north Baghdad, Iraq...   (Associated Press)
This image from video released by IntelCenter on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 shows a photo of Osama bin Laden as part of an audiotaped speech calling for Iraqi insurgents to unite and avoid divisive "extremism,"...   (Associated Press)
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander for U.S. troops in Iraq, appears at a graduation ceremony for 700 Iraqi National Police cadets in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)   (Associated Press)
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, left, talks to U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, during a meeting with tribal members of the awakening council,...   (Associated Press)
An Iraqi soldier blindfolds a detainee arrested near the city of Baqouba, some 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007. Iraqi army forces together with U.S. Army's soldiers...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq  • al-Qaeda  • David Petraeus  • insurgents  • American troops  • Sunnis  • Iraq Civil War  • Iraqi soldiers


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