* Bomb factory seized
* Number of foreign fighters entering Iraq decreased
BAGHDAD, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces arrested 12 al Qaeda members accused of making bombs and financing militant operations in the northern city of Mosul, an al Qaeda urban stronghold, the defence ministry said on Thursday.
Major General Mohammed al-Askari, the ministry spokesman, said security forces seized a sophisticated factory where hand grenades, bombs and silenced guns were made. He said the men had confessed to working for the organisation and financing attacks.
"Iraq will not be a fertile land for al Qaeda, and won't be a main shelter (for them). Iraqi land ... won't allow terrorist groups to work on it to target innocent people," Askari said.
Iraqi and U.S. forces say they have made major strides this year against a tenacious insurgency in Iraq even before the latest arrests in restive northern Nineveh province.
A week ago Iraqi officials said they had arrested 39 al Qaeda militants including the group's leadership in Anbar province, a former al Qaeda stronghold.
On Nov. 27 they said 12 al Qaeda suspects had been arrested in connection with the Oct. 31 attack on a church in Baghdad where 52 hostages and police were killed.
In April al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of Islamic State of Iraq, its local affiliate, were killed in a raid.
Insurgents have stepped up attacks on police and troops in recent months as the U.S. military pulls back more than seven years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
FEWER FOREIGN FIGHTERS
Askari said security forces killed a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Saudi in the Mosul operation. He said some of the arrested men were Arabs, including a Moroccan and a Syrian. Askari said the number of Arab fighters who cross the borders into Iraq was down compared to four years ago, mainly due to an increased police focus on foreign fighters entering the country and damaging strikes against al Qaeda leaders.
"In the years 2005-8 the number of Arab fighters who cross the borders were about between 60-80 a month. But in 2010 ... the number is at 5-10 fighters a month."
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped significantly since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-07 when tens of thousands of people were killed, but bombings and attacks still occur daily. (Editing by Serena Chaudhry)
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