US and Iraqi troops capture 37 suspects

US and Iraqi forces detained 37 suspected insurgents over the past two days in raids in and around Baghdad, the US military said today.

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 was a “known facilitator and manufacturer” of car bombs. Another was accused of supplying weapons to an al Qaida in Iraq cell in the area.

Another detainee captured yesterday was a Shiite worker at the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and was suspected of using his position to kidnap and murder Sunnis in Baghdad’s Jihad neighbourhood, the US military said.

US troops also seized 13 AK-47 assault rifles, eleven loaded magazines, one anti-aircraft machine gun and two other machine guns. US soldiers captured another 16 suspects in a raid on Monday in eastern Baghdad, the military said.