Diyala, 31 July (AKI) - Iraqi and US forces on Thursday arrested 189 people in a massive security operation targeting al-Qaeda in the northern province of Diyala, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"Joint police and army forces arrested 155 wanted men, while Multi-National Forces captured 34 others during Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) operation in Diyala," General Mohammed al-Askari told the news agency, Voices of Iraq.

The ministry said a curfew imposed by the Iraqi forces in the province had been lifted.

Thirty-five suspected militants were detained and 10 bombs were uncovered by troops on Wednesday.

Local authorities in Diyala had imposed a curfew on Tuesday ahead of the military operation to track down militants with alleged links to the al-Qaeda network.

Up to 30,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by US troops, took part in the crackdown which is expected to extend throughout the province to root out terrorists.

Initial operations focused on Baquba, capital of the province 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, and are expected to be extended across the province as far as the Iranian border.

Diyala has been the target of a number of recent attacks including the twin suicide bombings that killed at least 28 people on 15 July and a number of suicide attacks carried out by female bombers.

Diyala is one of the most unstable provinces in Iraq and has recently witnessed several suicide attacks by female bombers, recruited by al-Qaeda.

In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remnants of al-Qaeda network following the Diyala province campaign between 2006 and 2007.