MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, has launched a new operation to eradicate al-Qaida militants in the volatile northern province of Nineveh, provincial security source said on Sunday.

    The troops raided insurgents' safe houses and began search and arrest campaign since Friday as part of the "Operation New Hope" with the aims of defeating al-Qaida militants, securing stability and restoring essential services to civilians, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    So far, up to 88 suspected terrorists have been captured, the source said.

    During the operation, five Iraqi soldiers were killed in the town of Baaj, some 120 km west of the province's capital city of Mosul, when an explosive charge went off among them after they occupied an abandoned checkpoint outside the town, Abdul Kareem al-Shimmary, mayor of the town told Xinhua.

    Nineveh province, some 400 km north of Baghdad, is said to be one of the last strongholds of al-Qaida fighters in the war-torn country