Maliki Says Iraqi Forces Launching Offensive Against Al-Qaida
By VOA News
25 January 2008
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the government is launching a major offensive against al-Qaida in the northern city of Mosul, following two deadly bombing attacks in the city.
In an address in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala Friday, Mr. Maliki said troops have moved into Mosul and the fight there "will be decisive."
On Thursday, a suicide bomb blast in Mosul killed police chief Brigadier General Saleh Mohammed Hassan and two other officers, as they toured the site of a deadly explosion that rocked the city a day earlier.
One Iraqi army soldier and one coalition soldier were wounded in Thursday's blast.
Wednesday's massive explosion killed 34 people and wounded more than 200 others.
In a separate incident, Iraqi officials say a bomb attack lightly wounded a senior Shi'ite cleric, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, and killed two of his bodyguards in Karbala Thursday. Officials say two other people were wounded in the attack as the cleric left the Imam Hussein mosque, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines.
Karbalai is a representative of Iraq's Shi'ite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and often leads Friday prayers at the Imam Hussein mosque.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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