/headline short_headlineTroops kill 10 Qaeda suspects in Iraq/short_headline xmlfile/2007/11/26/troops-kill-10-qaeda-suspects-in-iraq--us-military-1196028142.xml/xmlfile url/2007/11/26/troops-kill-10-qaeda-suspects-in-iraq--us-military-1196028142.html/url dependentN/dependent publishedY/published published_date2007-11-26 09:22:36/published_date shorter_headline/ tags iraq, al qaeda, sunni, islamist militants, united states/tags related_articles/ created2007-11-26T03:03:07+05:30/created template71/template archive2007/11/26/troops-kill-10-qaeda-suspects-in-iraq--us-military-1196028142.xml/archive webpath2007/11/26/troops-kill-10-qaeda-suspects-in-iraq--us-military-1196028142.html/webpath filenametroops-kill-10-qaeda-suspects-in-iraq--us-military-1196028142/filename modified_date2007/11/26 03:11:07/modified_date published_date2007/11/26 03:11:07/published_date mobilelinkhttp://news.oneindia.mobi/2007/11/26/157914.html/mobilelink breadcrumbfont face="Arial" size="3" color="#CB6733" » /fonta href="/news/"News/afont face="Arial" size="3" color="#CB6733" » /fontFull story/breadcrumb subnavigationnews/subnavigation picture/ data_content br/ Baghdad, Nov 26: Coalition forces have killed 10 al Qaeda suspects in Iraq during operations against senior leaders of the Sunni Islamist militant group and their associates, the US military said today.br/br/ The forces detained eight other suspects during the coordinated operations yesterday in the city of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, it said in a statement.br/br/ Among the dead was a wanted suspect believed to be linked to a mass prison break in the northern city of Mosul in March, when dozens of gunmen freed up to 140 prisoners, the statement added.br/br/ That incident was one of the biggest prison breaks since the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.br/br/ ''Reports indicate that the wanted individual had previously been imprisoned for weapons smuggling,'' the statement said.br/br/ Senior US military leaders have said northern Iraq remains the most troublesome area after a security crackdown was launched in and around Baghdad in February.br/br/ US military and civilian casualties have dropped sharply in the past two months, partly as a result of 30,000 extra US troops targeting al Qaeda fighters and Shi'ite Muslim militias.br/br/ The troops became fully operational in mid-June.br/br/ The military says attacks have dropped 55 per cent since the troop ''surge'', a last-ditch attempt to avert sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.br/br/ More efficient Iraqi security forces and increasing use of US-backed neighbourhood police units organised by mainly Sunni Arab tribal leaders have also been credited for falling violence.br/br/ During one of yesterday's operations in Samarra, militants opened fire on the coalition forces, prompting an air strike that killed eight gunmen, including the suspect believed to be involved in the prison break, the statement said.br/br/ In another incident, two militants blew themselves up using a suicide vest when the coalition forces ordered them out of their vehicle.br/br/br/ Reutersbr//data_content added_date2007-11-26T03:32:27+05:30/added_dateheadline Troops kill 10 Qaeda suspects in Iraq