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Baghdad: Iraqi forces have detained more than 1,000 suspects in an offensive aimed at crushing Al Qaida in northern Iraq, the military commander of the operation said on Saturday.
Lieutenant-General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, head of the Iraqi-led offensive that began a week ago, said 1,068 suspects had been detained so far.
"This operation will last until we finish off all the terrorist remnants and outlaws," he said.
Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki returned to Baghdad on Saturday after spending several days in the city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province to supervise the crackdown.
Many gunmen from Sunni Islamist Al Qaida have regrouped in Nineveh after being pushed out of other areas. The US military says Mosul is Al Qaida's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
Police and soldiers have raided some towns on the Syrian border, where many foreign Al Qaida fighters enter Iraq, as part of the operation and turned over some suspects to US forces.
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