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

Iraqi 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 Wednesday 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.