By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi security forces captured a suspected leader of 300 Shiite militiamen backed by Iran in northern Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said on Tuesday.
Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) detained a mid-level leader of Special Groups, which refer to Shiite militia extremists funded, trained and armed by external sources, specifically by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force operatives, and two other militiamen in the Shiite neighborhood of Shu’la on Sunday, the statement said.
It said the suspect is an employee in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which has been frequently accused of being infiltrated by militiamen.
The military accused the suspect of “kidnapping and murdering Iraqi citizens and is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
The suspect’s group is also accused of conducting explosively-formed penetrator (EFPs) attacks, or armored-piercing roadside bombs against U.S. and Iraqi security forces. In separate incident, the U.S. troops detained another suspected Special Groups leader on Tuesday in the town of Suwayrah, some 50 km southeast of Baghdad, another military statement said.
The suspect is an explosively-formed penetrator expert, who believed to be responsible for coordinating and directing attacks on U.S. troops in the Wasit province, the military said. He is also suspected of sending members of his criminal ring to Iran for paramilitary training. Coalition forces also detained another suspected criminal at the targeted individual’s location.