| h/t Pittsburg journo Jack Kelly at his blog Irish Pennants. |
Security operations in western Iraq have killed more than 750 insurgents and captured almost 2,000 in the past few weeks, a senior defense ministry official said Monday.
"Enemy casualties in the Euphrates Valley have reached 753 killed and 58 wounded," General Abdel Aziz Mohammed told a press conference in Baghdad.
"The number of detained is 1,978 and includes an emir (insurgent cell chief) named Khalaf Fanus who was turned in to police forces by his family.
"All zones along the valley have been cleared and we are maintaining an Iraqi and multinational military presence there until police forces arrive to secure the area."
The commander of military operations at the defense ministry added: "We have established seven security zones" in the area, which stretches from near Baghdad to the western border with Syria.
Pockets of Sunni Arab-backed insurgents are found throughout the valley, which includes the hotspot cities of Al-Qaim, Fallujah and Ramadi.
Mohammed said insurgent attacks had decreased by four percent last week in Baghdad but had risen by five percent in western Iraq, while causing fewer casualties.
He also said that polling stations for Thursday's legislative election would be protected by a triple ring of security personnel, with police guarding the stations themselves.
Iraqi army troops would establish a second filter while US-led forces would man an outer perimeter, he said.
Security was to be reinforced in western Baghdad, the area where most attacks in the capital occur.