By DPA
Baghdad : Joint Iraqi army-police forces killed 19 Al Qaeda fighters in an operation in Baquba, northeast of the Iraqi capital Thursday morning, media reports said.
Two tribal men were also killed and three were wounded in the operation in north Baquba, Commander of the Diyala Operation General Abdul-Karim al-Rubaei told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
He said that police and army personnel, in cooperation with tribal men, launched another crackdown in a village in Abara region in Baquba, seizing a large amount of weapons, ammunition and explosives.
The forces also blew up a boat on the Diyala River that was used by Al Qaeda gunmen, he added, noting that the operation was carried out without any casualties.
Baquba is the capital of the province of Diyala that has seen a surge in violence despite a joint US-Iraqi military offensive to flush out insurgents linked to the Al Qaeda.
Local tribes have joined forces with the Iraqi government in a bid to eliminate Al Qaeda in Diyala.