Posted on 05/08/2008 10:26:01 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Karbala, May 8, (VOI) - Security forces on Thursday arrested leader of Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi army’s special brigades and two of his aides during a security raid in central Karbala, a security official in Karbala said.
Security forces detained the leader of al-Mahdi army’s special brigades, based on intelligence tips pointing to his presence inside a house in central Karbala,” Maj. General Raed Shakir Jawdat, Karbala police and operations chief, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
“The forces cordoned off the region and arrested two of his aides, including a policeman who provides the armed group’s leader with information,” he explained.
“The men were involved in assassinations, kidnappings, and murder operations,” Jawdat said.
The holy Shiite city of Karbala, 110 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has witnessed armed clashes coinciding with the Basra incidents, between gunmen and security forces.
Armed confrontations flared up late last March in Basra, Iraq's second largest city and oil hub, between government forces and Sadr's militias. The clashes coincided with angry upheavals in several southern provinces, where Sadr supporters spread.
The clashes broke out hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a plan codenamed Saulat al-Forsan
(Knights' Assault), which he said targeted the elimination of armed groups in Basra, 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
No mention of US Forces....they seem to be rolling up this guys pertty well.
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