Special Groups leader detained in Wassit

WASSIT, Sept. 19 (Iraqi News) – Iraqi police forces on Friday arrested a Special Groups leader during a security raid in western Kut, the commander of the Tiger force said. “The forces waged a crackdown operation in al-Jihad neighborhood in western Kut, where they arrested a Special Groups leader,” Captain Aziz Latief told IraqiNews.com – Voices of Iraq (Iraqi News). “The detainee is suspected of being involved in killing, kidnapping citizens as well as implementing armed attacks against the security forces,” he explained. “The operation was based on a judicial order from the Kut court,” the captain said. The U.S. army gives the name Special Groups to fighters it said belonged to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militias who were not committed to Sadr’s orders to freeze military operations of his militias. A Shiite province, Wassit, 180 km south of Baghdad, is in the east of the country. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning “middle,” as it lies along the Tigris about midway between Baghdad and Basra. Its major cities include the capital, al-Kut, and al-Hayy. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. SH (S) 1