I had been wondering why attacks in Mosul have increased recently and it appears we now have the answer:

A devastating explosion in northern Iraq was spearheaded by foreign fighters under the sponsorship of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, a security chief for Sunni tribesmen who rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq said Saturday.

Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, who also is a police official in Anbar province, said the Anbar Awakening Council had alerted the U.S. military to the possible arrival in the northern city of Mosul of the Seifaddin Regiment, made up of about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters, as long as three months ago.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment about Naief’s claim.

"They crossed the Syrian border nearest to Mosul within the last two to three months. Since then, they have taken up positions in the city and begun blowing up cars and launching other terror operations," Naief told The Associated Press.  [Associated Press]

What is interesting about the latest developments in Mosul is that the US military is not sending any additional units to Mosul.  Mosul only has one US infantry battalion in Iraq’s third largest city.  The city is mostly an Iraqi controlled city and with this new terrorist group operating the Iraqi military is deploying additional units to deal with it instead of the US.  This is a significant development and it will be interesting to see if the Iraqis can crush the Al Qaeda cell themselves. 

Bill Roggio has a whole lot more details on the developments in Mosul.