Militant Leader Captured by Iraqi Forces

By SAMEER N. YACOUB

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi forces backed by U.S. aircraft battled militants in a Shiite stronghold of eastern Baghdad early Friday, killing or wounding more than 30 fighters and capturing an extremist leader who was the target of the raid, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

In another operation, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. soldiers arrested a top regional commander of a Shiite militia near Hillah, a U.S. statement said. The moves appeared part of a crackdown on sectarian militias blamed for the escalation in Shiite-Sunni violence that has led to fears of civil war in recent months.

The U.S. military said the raid in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum was launched to apprehend "an insurgent leader responsible for numerous deaths of Iraqi citizens." He was arrested after a gunbattle between Iraqi forces and insurgents, the U.S. said.

There were no casualties among U.S. or Iraqi soldiers, the Americans said.

U.S. officials did not identify the insurgent leader but residents of the Shiite neighborhood said he was Abu Diraa, a commander in the Mahdi militia of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The U.S. statement said the militant leader was involved "in the transfer of weapons from Syria into Iraq" in an effort to break away "from his current insurgent organization." The statement did not mention any U.S. role in the raid, but residents said they could hear American aircraft providing cover.

In a statement Thursday, the U.S. said Iraqi and U.S. forces also arrested Adnan al-Unaybi, commander of a Mahdi militia force south of Baghdad. The statement said he was arrested north of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

An al-Sadr aide, Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, denounced the Baghdad raid, saying 11 civilians were killed and dozens wounded as U.S. jets fired on the area as people were sleeping on their roofs because of the searing summer temperatures and electricity shortages.

"This is a big escalation from the American side," he said. "I condemn all the silence toward such violations and I call for the withdrawal of the American forces."

There were conflicting casualty figures. Lt. Kadim Abbas Hamza of the Sadr City police said fighter planes also fired from the air and nine people, including a woman, were killed and 14 were wounded. He also said eight people were arrested.

A hospital official said seven people were killed and 34 wounded.

An Iraqi army officer said the Americans had provided them with a list of names of people to be arrested in Sadr City. Iraqi soldiers led the raid while the Americans played a support role, but nobody was arrested because of the clashes, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The early morning raid also came as security forces were searching for a female Sunni legislator, who was abducted by gunmen in a nearby Shiite area nearly a week ago. Al-Sadr’s aide said his group had condemned the kidnapping and denied that the cleric’s followers or members of the Mahdi army were linked to it.

U.S. and Iraqi forces also staged a raid in Sadr City in late March, with the Americans saying 16 suspected insurgents were killed. Police put the number at 22.

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Associated Press writer Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report in Baghdad.