BAGHDAD, Feb 26: Iraqi troops have killed 12 “terrorists” – including two wearing explosive suicide vests – and arrested 81 in operations across Baghdad, officials said on Monday.

The Baghdad Operational Command, which is overseeing a major security sweep by Iraqi and US forces to quell sectarian violence in the capital, said the killings and arrests had taken place since Sunday.

It said 32 people had been arrested in Mahmudiyah, southwest of Baghdad, on Monday while 12 people died in clashes with the security forces in various parts of the capital.

The two wearing suicide vests were killed in Al-Rashid district, it added, without elaborating.

US commanders have said they fear Al Qaeda is turning to bomb vests rather than car bombs to get around tight controls placed on traffic in the city.

The defence ministry on Monday reported 49 “terrorists” arrested in Al-Zanbariya on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, among them three who admitted involvement in the bombing of the capital’s Al-Rashid market place.

It said Iraqi troops also seized 33 AK-47 rifles, and caches of weapons and explosives.—AFP