( Breakingnews.ie ) - US troops in Iraq have killed at least 52 suspected insurgents and detained 47 over the past week, the military said today.
Operations against suspected al- Qaida safe havens in the Diyala River Valley north east of Baghdad, which started last Thursday and ended on Sunday, resulted in 37 militants killed and 25 detained.
Several weapons caches were uncovered and destroyed, including ammunition, sniper rifle parts, grenades, mines, blasting caps, mortar systems, anti-tank weapons, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and improvised explosive device-making materials.
During the multiple-day operations in Diyala , air strikes destroyed five al Qaida insurgents in Iraq safe houses, including a building used for al Qaida's surveillance of US troop positions.The US military also said that 14 insurgents were killed and 12 detained in four separate raids yesterday and today that targeted al Qaida hideouts in central parts of the country.
In an operation today that pursued a top suspect implicated in car bombing networks in western Baghdad, 13 suspects were killed, one of whom was wearing a suicide vest, the military said.
US troops identified a group of armed men who had attacked a local house and pursued the militants as they assembled on a field west of Baghdad.
American soldiers then called in air support, which killed first 10 and shortly after remaining three from the group, the military said.
A 14th suspect was killed in another operation in Baqouba , 35 miles north east of Baghdad, that targeted an associate of a senior al Qaida leader in Iraq.