Iraqi Security Forces captured an explosives and assassination-cell leader and four additional suspected terrorists today during three operations here and in northern Iraq to suppress al-Qaida in Iraq, military officials said.

In western Baghdad, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched two residential buildings with court warrants for two members – one a leader — of an AQI cell responsible for numerous assassinations and improvised explosive device attacks in the region.

Iraqi Security Forces identified and arrested both men and a suspected criminal accomplice based on preliminary questioning and evidence collected at the scene.

During a separate security operation in Abu Ghraib, about ten miles west of Baghdad, ISF and U.S. advisors searched a residential building for a suspected terrorist cell member who builds and employs IEDs in coordination with AQI, targeting security forces in Iraq.

The security team arrested the suspect after finding numerous electronic components used to make IEDs and IED initiators in his apartment and an adjacent workshop.

In a third operation last night, in a rural area south of Kirkuk, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched a building for a suspected AQI member who provides safe haven for visiting AQI leaders.

Evidence collected at the scene led Iraqi police to arrest a suspected criminal associate of the warranted man.