World Jul. 31, 2008 - 04:37AM JST ( 24 )

BAQUBA, Iraq —

Iraq forces supported by U.S. troops laid siege to the city of Baquba and arrested 45 suspects on Wednesday, the second day of a major assault on al-Qaida fighters in dangerous Diyala province.

The operation involves about 50,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, with U.S. troops offering intelligence and logistical support, General Ali Gedan, director of military operations in Diyala, said.

He said a tight security cordon had been thrown around the provincial capital Baquba, 60 kilometers north of Baghdad, with scores of police checkpoints set up to prevent non-residents from entering or leaving.

The capital was also under a 24-hour traffic curfew, hampering the movement of goods and people inside the sprawling city.

Military operations, which began on Tuesday and which involve neighborhood-by-neighborhood searches across Diyala for militiamen and illegal weapons, had netted dozens of suspected militants, another official said.

“Our forces have detained 45 people wanted for terrorism and others involved in crime, murder and setting of explosives,” defense ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said.

Askari said that six people kidnapped and held by militants had been released while another 13 people believed to be linked to insurgents had also been detained.

“Iraqi security forces are controlling the entry routes into Diyala to stop terrorists from escaping to other provinces,” Askari added.

The offensive follows similar Iraqi military operations in the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan, and the northern province of Nineveh, as Iraq forces try to shore-up tenuous security gains in the war-ravaged country.

Fed by the Euphrates and Diyala rivers, Diyala was once the granary of Iraq and its lush orchards made it the country’s orange capital, but its multi-ethnic population has proven one of the most dangerous to control.

Colonel Ali al-Karkhi, commanding officer of Iraqi forces in Khan Beni Saad, said Diyala was “the most dangerous province in Iraq.”

The province, which has a long border with Iran has been a center of weapon smuggling, has suffered repeated suicide bombings, thought to be mostly orchestrated by Sunni al-Qaida operatives.

Aided by the U.S. military and Iraqi forces, local anti-Qaida groups known as “Sahwa” or Awakening councils, have turned the tables on rebels but they continue to wage attacks in the region.

Wire reports