Iraqi security forces on Monday (July 9th) arrested an al-Qaeda "military leader" in a security operation carried out in the forests of Zawbaa, Abu Ghraib, officials said Tuesday.

"A joint Iraqi force attacked an al-Qaeda hideout in Abu Ghraib where Sabah Fayyadh and four of his escorts were staying," the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Fayyadh "serves as the military leader and direct supervisor of terrorist operations in the western area of [Baghdad] between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, where some 400,000 people are living", the statement said.