Al-Qaeda fighters flee cities, head for desert or out of Iraq -- report

From KUNA. An update on the current situation of Al Qaeda in Iraq in the MND-N region.

A surge in military operations and a shift in local support in northern Iraq has driven many Al-Qaeda fighters out of cities that once provided them safe haven and into the desert, or even out of the country, said a report by the Multi-National Force (NMF), quoting a commander in the region. Citizens in the four-province region of Multi-National Division - North have begun shifting their support to Coalition and Iraqi forces in "droves," and security gains are increasingly putting extremists on the run with no clear place to go to be safe, said Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multi-National Division - North and the U.S. Armys 1st Armored Division.

Just how successful has Operation Iron Harvest been?

In Iron Harvest operations over the past 45 days, Coalition and Iraqi security forces there have conducted 74 missions. They have captured or killed more than 70 high-value individuals, and "hundreds" of enemy fighters, the general said. They found more than 430 caches with tons of explosives and weapons, he added, and they have cleared 653 homemade bombs, 42 house bombs, 35 car bombs and three bomb factories.

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