2 Sufi gunmen arrested in Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Police forces arrested two gunmen of the Sufi Islamist armed group, al-Jamaa al-Naqshabandiya, while they were launching missiles targeting U.S. and Iraqi forces. “The two arrested gunmen are residents of al-Multaqa district, 20 km southwest of Kirkuk city,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “They were arrested in al-Mamdoda neighborhood, southern Kirkuk city,” he said. “Light arms and cameras to tape armed operations were seized from the two gunmen,” he added. “The operation relied on intelligence tip offs,” he noted. The source pointed out that during preliminary interrogations, the two gunmen confessed to rocketing the airbase in Kirkuk, which is considered the major U.S. base in the city, and to distributing provocative leaflets. Al-Jamaa al-Naqshabandiya is an armed group that was formed in Iraq after 2003. It gets orders from the former Iraqi Vice President under Saddam Hussein, Izzat al-Duri, who is now a fugitive and wanted for the U.S. forces that put a prize on his head. The group operates in Kirkuk province and other areas in dispute between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional cabinet. MH (S)/SR   1