Members of an al-Qaeda-affiliated cell were arrested during a security operation conducted by an elite unit in Salah al-Din Tuesday evening (June 5th), the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

The cell's 20 members include seven boys under the age of 14 -- recruited to carry out suicide operations -- and a woman in her forties, Maj. Gen. Abd Hussain al-Ameri, director of Iraq's counter-terrorism agency, said at a press conference in Baghdad.

Security forces attacked a building in Sharqat, in the southern part of Salah al-Din, where all the cell members were assembled, he said, adding that security officials had been monitoring the cell for several weeks.

Armed clashes erupted between the security forces and the gunmen before the gunmen surrendered, al-Ameri said.