January 11, 2007

Iranian Consulate Raided in Iraq, 5 Detained

U.S. forces raided an Iranian consulate in the Kurdish north. My understanding is that the Kurds know how to deal with insurgents. They are merciless. Which is why you rarely hear of terrorist incidents in areas controlled by the Kurds.

Iranian News Agency:

In other developments, US forces raided the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi northern city of Erbil, arrested its five staff members and confiscated computers and documents early Thursday morning.

Coalition forces conducted routine security operations in northern Iraq and took six individuals into custody suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraqi and Coalition forces on Jan. 11.

This operation was part of an ongoing effort by Coalition forces targeting individuals involved in activities aimed at the killing of Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces.

A man who lives next to the consulate, Sardar Hassan Mohammed, 34, said he saw what he believed to be U.S. forces surrounding the building with their vehicles before entering it. Mohammed said at least five people were taken.

An official with the Kurdish Democratic Party, who declined to give his name, said the U.S. troops confiscated belongings inside the consulate in addition to arresting people inside.

Hat tip to Dan Riehl for first noticing this and connects the action to last night's declaration that no country will be immune if it helps the insurgency.

Update: Related from Pamela at Atlas Shrugs who notes this NY Sun video: Iran's Secret Plan For Mayhem in Iraq.

UPDATE II: Dan Riehl updates his original post with this from the CBC. Yeah, I know it's the CBC--which makes it a 50/50 shot of being true:

An Iraqi general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details had not been released, said a mainly Kurdish force from one of the northern Iraqi brigades would be sent into Sadr City, the Shiite slum in northeast Baghdad that is headquarters of the Mahdi Army.

The general said Kurds, who are Sunni but not Arab, were being used against the Shiite Mahdi Army to overcome the predicted refusal by soldiers from other Iraqi units to fight fellow Shiites. An estimated 80 per cent of the Iraqi army is Shiite.