LOC16:36
13:36 GMT
IRBIL, May 11 (KUNA) -- Iraq's Minister of Interior Jawad Al-Bolani headed
to the Nineveh governorate on Sunday, to oversee operation "Lion's Roar," a
military offensive targeting Al-Qaeda insurgents in the country.
Al-Bolani on the way also made visits to Kirkuk and Samarra which are both
situated closeby, where he met with several senior officials in the Iraqi
police, said the Ministry of Interior in a press statement.
Governer of Northern Iraqi Tal-Afar, Brig. Najim Abdullah also in a press
statement, said today that military forces were able to kill five gunmen, and
arrest seven others, after clashes erupted in the area.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has said that the country was to
launch "decisive operations" against Al-Qaeda insurgents in Iraq.
The military offensive dubbed "Lion's Roar" by Iraqi authorities, began
yesterday in the city of Mosul, and started with the arrest and capture of a
number of wanted insurgents, to which a huge amount of weapons was also
seized, said Chief of Operations in Mosul Lieut. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq.
The military chief asserts that Iraqi forces achieved 92 targets and
arrested more than 60 elements of armed insurgent groups on the first day of
the operation. (end)
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