Posted on 06/21/2008 6:00:17 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush
Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured a senior Mahdi Army commander with "close ties" to Muqtada al Sadr's office in Najaf on June 19. Two other senior Mahdi Army commanders in Baghdad and Hillah were captured on June 20 and 21.
The Mahdi Army commander captured by Iraqi special forces is thought to be "an influential advisor in west Baghdad" with close ties to the Office of the [Martyr] Sadr in Najaf," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. The commander also is able to appoint Mahdi Army officers into command positions.
The US military would not release the identity of the leader as it would "threaten security or intelligence gathering efforts," said US Navy Lieutenant Patrick Evans, a Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Corps Iraq. "The capture of this suspect will likely lead to information on other key Special Groups criminal leaders operating in the area," said Lieutenant Colonel Neil Harper, the spokesman for Multinational Corps Iraq.
The leadership of the Mahdi Army, which the US refers to as the “Special Groups” in an effort to divide and conquer the militia and entice moderate elements into the political process, has been heavily targeted this year. The Mahdi Army has received funding, training, weapons, and support for Iran's Qods Force.
Over the next 24 hours, Coalition forces have captured two senior Mahdi Army commanders in Baghdad and Hillah.
A senior "Iranian-trained Special Groups commander in Adhamiyah" was captured in northeast Baghdad along with two associates. The Mahdi Army commander is thought to have run all of the Mahdi Army's operations in southeastern Baghdad.
"The targeted criminal's reported close ties and connections to Iranian intelligence agents, along with his weapons and finance facilitations make him a key capture for Coalition forces," the US military stated.
Coalition special forces teams also captured a key Mahdi Army leader and an associate in the Hillah region south of Baghdad. The commander was "wanted for running Special Groups recruiting efforts, as well as ordering assassinations and directing the specialized training of Special Groups criminals."
The three arrests come as the Iraqi military is pressing its operation in the Mahdi Army stronghold in the southern province of Maysan. The Mahdi Army has surrendered the provincial capital of Amarah without firing a shot, and six senior Sadrists, including the mayor of Amarah, have been detained. Security has also tightened in the neighboring provinces of Wasit, Dhi Qhar, and Basrah.
On June 14, US forces captured a Mahdi Army brigade commander in Baghdad. The most high-profile Mahdi Army leaders killed or captured this year include Arkan Hasnawi and the leadership of the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Jihadi Brigades in Karbala. Many weapons smugglers, financiers, cell and battalion leaders, facilitators, counterfeiters, and other senior operatives have been killed or captured.
The US and Iraq military have also plastered Baghdad walls with wanted posters of senior Mahdi Army commanders, including Tahseen al Freiji, the senior Mahdi Army commander in Sadr City, and Mahdi Khaddam Alawi al Zirjawi, a senior Mahdi Army commander with direct links to Iran and Hezbollah.
For more information on the relationship between the Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Groups, see Iran's Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq, US military killed Mahdi Army commander Arkan Hasnawi in May 3 strike. For more information on recent operations against the Mahdi Army in the South, see Iraqi Army interdicting Iranian operations in the South and Maysan operation continues to target Sadrist leaders.
lwj ping
Gen. Petraeus has done a beautiful job of putting a plan to counter Mookie’s thugs.
And they continue to make progress that the media will ignore. This is great news.
Sadr ain't no "martyr", yet.
So we’ll be hearing about all this on the nightly news, right?
Only if Obama had talked them into surrendering.
Thanks Tennessean4Bush.
Water Board Him.....twice.
Remember when it used to be reported that 3 high level al queada operatives were captured? Boy have times changed.
Pinging the gang to this good news : )
Yes times have changed. It took time to train the new Iraqi forces.
The Iraqis will have no problems with it. They will use the board minus the water.
Obmaa should like that. They are environmentally friendly.
I'm not holding my breath.
I’ll do you even one better. McCain should campaign up to the convention...in Iraq. He should walk the streets of Baghdad with the press in tow and stop and announce that we have won, that Obama would have given these people over to al Qaeda’s tender mercies, and that the streets of Baghdad would be a breeding ground for more terrorist launches in Europe and the U.S. Now, however, it is signaling the death-knell for both al Qaeda and Iran. Obama would never recover from that.
You, my FRiend, are dead-on right....on so many levels.
Damned shame that McCain and his handlers have neither the foresight nor stones to do what you suggest...
I have a feeling they are planning to do something, I just don't know if it is going to be as dramatic as it should be. I guess it is something he could wait on, but I just think it gets harder and harder after the convention because you are so tempted to do events in battleground states as the election draws closer.
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