33 arrested, IED-making factory seized near Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi security and Multi-National Force (MNF) personnel arrested 33 people and seized a factory for home-making improvised explosive devices during a security campaign southwest of Kirkuk province, a senior security official said on Sunday. “A combined force from the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD) and the MNF launched a security campaign since last night and continued until today (March 22) morning in villages of the district of al-Huweija, (65 km) southwest of Kirkuk, arresting 33, including a number of wanted persons,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the KDPD chief, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Also, a factory for making IEDs was seized,” Qader added. The oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a city of mixed Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish and Turkmen population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 1