LOC17:48
14:48 GMT
BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (KUNA) -- An Iraqi insurgent group has killed 18 Qaeda
fighters in Iraq and captured 16 others in clashes in Salahuddin province
north of Baghdad, a police source said on Saturday.
Fierce clashes erupted on Friday afternoon between militants from the
Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Qaeda network fighters
in Banat Al-Hassan village near Samarra City, some 120 km north of Baghdad,
the source told KUNA on condition of anonymity.
Clashes went on for several hours and resulted in the killing of 18 Qaeda
fighters and the capturing of 16 others, along with the seizing of weapons and
six vehicle, the source said. The source did not say whether there was any
casualty among Islamic Army members, who believed to have joined the U.S. and
Iraqi forces in battling Qaeda fighters earlier this year.
Other security sources claimed that 15 members of the Islamic Army were
killed during the fighting.
U.S. and Iraqi security forces did not interfere in the battle between the
two sides, the source said, adding that the 16 captured Qaeda fighters have
not been handed over to the government forces, apparently because the Islamic
Army wanted to offer a prisoner exchange for some of its members held by Qaeda.
Some Sunni insurgent groups fought Qaeda network in the Sunni dominated
cities, including Samarra, because of its adherence to a hardline form of
Islam and indiscriminate killings against both Shiite and Sunni communities.
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KUNA 101748 Nov 07NNNN