A month into its efforts to clear the northern city of Tal Afar, U.S. and Iraqi forces are continuing the month-long operation dubbed “Restoring Rights.”

In the past five days, Army officials said, more than 10,000 pounds of explosives have been seized during raids and patrols.

Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, working with soldiers from the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, arrested five suspected insurgents and nine smugglers on Saturday, officials said, claiming “two of these men are senior-level leaders responsible for planning and funding terrorism in the northern area of Iraq.”

U.S. and Iraqi officials have long said smugglers along the Syrian border have moved fighters, weapons, cash and other goods for use by the insurgency in Iraq.

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