May 30, 2007

al-Sadr's Militia Claims Kidnapping of Brits

Via The Telegraph: Iraq's most prominent Shia militia has emerged as the chief suspect in the kidnappings of five British nationals in Iraq.

Police security check motorists in Baghdad: SAS on alert to rescue Baghdad Britons
Iraqi police security check motorists close to the finance ministry's information section in Baghdad

Negotiations with the Mahdi Army are already under way after one of several spokesmen for the armed force under the command of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr claimed responsibility for the kidnappings at the finance ministry in Baghdad.

Hundreds of Iraqi and American troops raided Sadr City, Baghdad’s largest Shia neighbourhood, in an operation that ended early today. Residents said areas of Sadr City were sealed off and several arrests were made.

Iraqi forces have established a special battalion of soldiers and police officers to search for the kidnapped men. “We are conducting search operations near the site where the abduction took place,” said Brig Gen Qassim al Musawi, an Iraqi army spokesman.

“Maybe today or in the coming few days, we will find them with the help of secret intelligence.”

Via CNN: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition forces detained five suspected terrorists in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood Wednesday, including their cell leader, a U.S. military statement said.

All are believed to be members of a cell involved in weapons trafficking.

"Intelligence reports indicate the cell leader that was targeted and detained during the morning's operation is suspected of being a key weapons trafficker ... of small arms, mortars and other munitions," the military said, including "explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training."

The U.S. military has been saying for months that militants are getting the EFPs from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and that Iraqi militants are being trained in Iran.

Damn productive for the Iranians that is.

Hat Tip: Captain Ed.