BAGHDAD, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- As the U.S. troops are stretched thin by relentless daily attacks in Iraq, an unexpected aid has descended: the Iraqi Sunni Arabs, including some former or active insurgents, who had been fed up with al-Qaida militants on their turfs.

    Since the first noticeable anti-al-Qaida Sunni force -- the Anbar Awakening -- came to the fore last year, similar groups had popped up across Sunni Arab-populated provinces in Iraq.

    There were evidences indicating that these groups were conscripting Sunni tribal men and former insurgents, who were increasingly opposed to the religious extremism imposed by al-Qaida.

    These local groups were cooperating with the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition forces in their struggle to reduce intimidation and indiscriminate killings in their neighborhoods.

    Even some die-hard insurgents had jumped onto the bandwagon against the al-Qaida, while rebuffing any interference by the U.S. troops.

    Two recent conflicts between the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, and al-Qaida militants were the outstanding showdown of the Sunnis and al-Qaida.

    On Friday afternoon, fierce clashes erupted between their militants at the Banat al-Hassan village near Samarra City, one of a traditional militia stronghold some 120 km north of Baghdad.

    Iraqi police said the battle resulted in the killing of 18 and capturing of 16 al-Qaida militants.

    The police said that the Islamic Army did not hand over the captives to the security force, apparently because it wanted to make a prisoner swap with al-Qaida.

    The confrontation was preceded by another one last month near the city. In the two-day fight then, the Islamic Army fighters killed 16 al-Qaida armed men, including three non-Iraqi militants.

    Iraqi police said the U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces did not interfere in neither of the two battles, adding that the Islamic Army rejected any kind of backup from the U.S. and Iraqi forces for fear that the anti-U.S. group would be accused of collaboration with the occupation forces.

    The Islamic Army said it was up against al-Qaida because the group was killing the insurgents and other Iraqis.

    "The most important reason which pushed us to fight al-Qaida organization in our country is the latter's attempt to fight any armed group which opposes its agenda," Abu Ammar, a leading member in the Islamic Army, said in a statement.

    "Who gave the right to the al-Qaida members to kidnap and kill some of the Islamic Army leaders and the Iraqi citizens?" said Ammar.

    "All the al-Qaida attacks against the Iraqis have affected negatively the performance of the insurgents' attacks on the U.S. forces, a further reason for us to attack it powerfully," he said.

    Disappointed with the stagnant reconciliation efforts by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the inability of the Iraqi security forces in taking over security control, the United States are increasingly relying on the Sunni Arabs, who lost their superiority in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, to help drive out al-Qaida.

    U.S. President George W. Bush met with Abu Risha, leader of the Anbar Awakening movement, in his September visit to Iraq, giving a high-profile support to the fledgling force of hedge against al-Qaida elements.

    As the Sunnis step up campaigns, so do their opponents. Abu Risha was killed in a car bomb assassination just days after his meeting with Bush. And similar attacks against tribal leaders were frequent over the past two months.