Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained three suspected Iranian-backed “special groups criminals” and discovered weapons during recent operations throughout Baghdad, military officials said. In operations yesterday, local police found more than 1,700 small-arms rounds, 18 grenades, 10 AK-47 assault rifles with magazines and eight munitions vests in Baghdad’s New Baghdad district. Also, a local citizen turned in a 60 mm mortar round and a rocket-propelled grenade round to U.S. troops patrolling the area, officials said. In operations Sept. 12, a U.S.-Iraqi-joint patrol captured an alleged Iranian-backed “special groups leader” in Baghdad’s Jihad community. The suspect is...

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces battled Iraqi police and gunmen Friday, killing six policemen, after an American raid captured a police lieutenant accused of leading an Iranian-backed militia cell, the military said. Seven gunmen also died in the fight, a rare open street battle between American troops and policemen. Washington has demanded the government purge its police force of militants, and U.S. and Iraqi authorities have arrested officers in the past for militia links. But the Bush administration said in an assessment Thursday that progress on that front was "unsatisfactory." The lieutenant was captured before dawn in eastern Baghdad, but the...