US raids in western Iraq capture 23 suspects

BAGHDAD, Jan 3: US forces conducted a string of raids in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's restive western province of Anbar, today, and detained 23 suspects with ties to senior al Qaeda leaders, the US military said.

One of those detained was shot and wounded after he tried to escape with a handgun and a grenade, a US statement said.

Anbar, a vast desert province stretching to the Syrian border, is the heartland of Iraq's Sunni Arab-led insurgency.

REUTERS