Iraqi forces arrest 220 suspects in al Qaeda raid

[David]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces hunting al Qaeda members arrested 220 people in a raid in western Anbar province, a former insurgent stronghold, the province's police chief and the U.S. military said Friday.

Police backed by the Iraqi army stormed houses in the village of Owesat, in southern Anbar where they believe the Sunni Islamist insurgents were hiding, Thursday morning, Anbar police chief Major General Tareq Yusuf told Reuters.

"Those gunmen were controlling this area and they thought it would be safe for them there. We took the initiative and executed a bold raid," he said.

The area is in a zone along the Euphrates river by the border between Anbar and Babil provinces, dubbed the "triangle of death" by U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion for its stubborn insurgency, although it is now quieter.

Yusuf said a few of the militants resisted. No one was killed but two policemen were wounded during the offensive. Yusuf did not think all of those arrested belonged to al Qaeda.

"An investigation is under way to sift the good guys from the bad guys," he said.

The U.S. Marines handed Anbar back to Iraqi security control last month, two years after the desert region was considered lost to insurgents and al Qaeda militants. They put Iraqis in control of neighboring Babil this month.

But security officials say remnants of the Sunni Islamist group and other insurgents still roam the region, occasionally planting bombs and attacking security forces.