By DPA
Baghdad : Joint Iraq-US forces have arrested the mastermind in July’s market bombings in the predominantly Turkman district of Tuz during a military operation in the Sulaiman Bik area, independent Voices of Iraq news agency (VOI) reported Thursday.
Abd Dalian Mohammed, detained Wednesday evening, is believed to be a leading figure of the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq, an Iraqi police source was cited by the agency as saying.
The source also said Mohammed led a network of gunmen in and around Tuz Khurmato and that investigations were underway to uncover the members of his group.
On July 7, at least 100 Iraqis were killed and more than 120 injured when a truck bomb blast rocked a busy market in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato in Tikrit province, 170 kilometres north of capital Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces killed three suspected Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq and detained 80 others during a three-day operation that ended Wednesday in the Hamrin Ridge and Diyala River Valley area of eastern Iraq, the US military in Iraq reported Thursday.
The detainees include four suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist cell leaders, the statement added.