Final Showdown With al Qaida In Iraq

US and Iraqi forces are gearing up for an offensive against al Qaida in Mosul. It is al Qaida's last major urban strong hold according to US military officials. Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki flew to the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday to oversee a big offensive against al Qaeda in what the U.S. military says is the group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi military officials hope the operation will deliver a knockout blow to Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants in northern Iraq. The campaign, which is being led by Iraqi security forces, commenced on Saturday.

"This operation will purge Mosul of criminal and terrorist gangs and end the suffering they have brought to people," Maliki said in a statement.

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Iraqi military officials said some 500 suspected insurgents had been detained in raids in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province so far. Vehicle curfews have been imposed.

Al Qaeda militants have regrouped in Nineveh after being pushed out of Baghdad and their former stronghold of western Anbar province by U.S. and Iraqi forces in the past year.

It was unclear how long Maliki would stay in Mosul, but his visit resembles one he made to the southern oil city of Basra in late March to supervise a crackdown on Shi'ite militias there.