BAGHDAD, Jan 31 (KUNA) — The US army in Iraq has said that its warplanes bombed an insurgent cell whose members were pounding northern Baghdad with mortar shells.

A US Army press release Wednesday said warplanes and helicopters from the Task Force Baghdad bombed the group of insurgents in a northern Baghdad district.

According to the release, the planes detected the insurgent group while it was getting ready to bomb a religious shrine in Al-Kathmiya, north of the Iraqi capital.

No details were available about the group’s losses but the release said the planes had hit the house they used to launch their mortar attacks.

Ten people had been injured yesterday when mortars hit Al-Kathmiya during Iraqi Shiites’ commemoration of Ashoura.

The US troops said, in another press release, they had captured the leader of an insurgent group in charge of planting explosive devices west of Baghdad, noting that the captive is suspected of leading a cell of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

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KUNA 311047 Jan 07NNNN