Army launches Kirkuk sweep

Baghdad: Thousands of Iraqi troops launched a crackdown in Kirkuk in efforts to curb violence in Baghdad.

The crackdown comes as Iraq's Sunni and Shiite religious leaders planned to sign a declaration forbidding inter-Islamic fighting.

Residents were ordered to stay in their homes following a suicide car bomb attack that killed 14 people in Tal Afar on Saturday.

Intensified checkpoints were set up on city entrances while a curfew in place has been extended to round-the-clock "until further notice".

"This operation comes as a measure to cleansing Kirkuk from weapons, as well to prevent the militants from having any chance to reorganize their abilities," said Kirkuk police chief Lt Gen Sherko Shaker. "We shouldn't give them any chance to rest."

So far, 150 suspected Sunni insurgents have been arrested in searches and raids, Shaker said.

Meanwhile, Izzat Mufti of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference said that Sunni and Shiite representatives will be meeting in Saudi Arabia to draft the anti-Islamic fighting document.

"This meeting aims to ban the fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in order to avoid a civil war" in Iraq, he said, adding that it is an OIC initiative "to help in ending the killings and bombings".