18 wanted men nabbed, ammo found in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Wednesday arrested 18 wanted persons and seized a large amount of arms and ammunition during security operations in different parts of Basra province, according to a local source. “Police forces conducted search raids in the areas of Shatt al-Arab, eastern Basra; Abi al-Khaseeb (20 km south of Basra city), and al-Zubeir district (35 km west of Basra),” the media office of Basra’s police told IraqiNews.com. “Eighteen men, who are wanted on criminal and terror-related charges, were arrested during the raids,” it noted. “One of those arrested was disguised in women’s clothes,” it added. “Two machine guns, Katyusha rockets and three boxes containing ammunition were seized during the raids,” according to the office. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. SS (P) 1