Baghdad, June 13: US troops have detained 74 suspected al-Qaeda sympathisers in a raid in northern Iraq, Central Command said today in its first explicit claim of involvement by Osama bin Laden's Islamist militant network in post-war unrest here.
"The 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted a raid yesterday near (the northern oil capital of) Kirkuk after receiving intelligence information about alleged anti-coalition elements. They apprehended 74 suspected al-Qaeda sympathizers," Centcom said in a short statement.
US commanders have thus far put the main blame for deadly attacks against coalition troops here on loyalists of the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein although they have acknowledged that foreign "fanatics" might also have had a role.
Separately, US troops launched a massive operation in northwestern Iraq before dawn yesterday against what the coalition said was a "terrorist training camp."
Military spokesmen in Baghdad said they could give no further details on that operation as it was still ongoing today.
Bureau Report
