So is this operation a result of that raid?
Iraqi forces hunting al Qaeda members arrested 220 people in a raid in western Anbar province, a former insurgent stronghold, the province's police chief and the U.S. military said Friday.
Police backed by the Iraqi army stormed houses in the village of Owesat, in southern Anbar where they believe the Sunni Islamist insurgents were hiding, Thursday morning, Anbar police chief Major General Tareq Yusuf told Reuters.
"Those gunmen were controlling this area and they thought it would be safe for them there. We took the initiative and executed a bold raid," he said.
The area is in a zone along the Euphrates river by the border between Anbar and Babil provinces, dubbed the "triangle of death" by U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion for its stubborn insurgency, although it is now quieter.
The Syrian-based operation had to have information on where the jihadis were going inside Iraq. I'd bet this is one of those places.
