20 armed group members arrested in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Policemen arrested 20 members of al-Naqshabandiya group in neighborhoods of Baladruz district, northwest of Baaquba, on Saturday, according to a local security source in Diala. “A combined force of the police and special squad launched on Saturday a large-scale campaign on the neighborhoods of Fazwa and al-Aasri in Baladruz, (45 km) northwest of Baaquba, arresting 20 operatives of al-Naqshabandiya group,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The detainees are remanded in custody on charges of involvement in terrorist operations, intimidating civilian residents and handing out leaflets in which they threatened the local residents and requested them to leave their homes,” the source added. “The arrests were conducted upon intelligence tip-offs. The detainees were taken to Baghdad for interrogations,” he said. Al-Naqshabandiya, self-proclaimed after the year 2003, is a group that introduces itself as an Islamic spiritual dogmatic organization, but its ideology changed into one of armed struggle against the occupation forces. Believed to be loyal to Izzat al-Dori, the vice president of the former regime, is suspected of involvement in armed operations that took place in some areas of Kirkuk and other spots disputed between the central government and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AmR (S) 1