Pat Dollard | Young Americans

A tip led soldiers from the 39th Iraqi Army Brigade to a large cache of munitions and weapons that included 217 rocket-propelled grenades, 354 blocks of C-4, and more than 40 explosively formed projectiles in the Al Husayn district of Amarah, June 29. (US Army photo)

July 2, 2008

LWJ

By Bill Roggio

Iraqi forces detained four senior Sadrists members of the Maysan provincial council on Wednesday in the latest series of aids targeting senior Sadrist leaders in the former Mahdi Army bastion of Maysan province. Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces uncovered a Mahdi Army headquarters and several large weapons caches in the provincial capital.

Police and Army units arrested Adel Muhoder al Maliki, the governor of Maysan province; Abdul Jabar Wahied al Ukeli, the chief of the provincial council; Fadel Neaama, the deputy chief of the security committee; and Abdul Latief Jawad, the head of the health committee. The men were arrested for their involvement with the Mahdi Army.

The four men are senior leaders in the Sadrist movement, the political party run by Muqtada al Sadr. The Sadrist ran Maysan province prior to the security operation launched in mid-June.

Iraqi security forces have detained several senior Sadrist leaders over the past two weeks. Police arrested Rafeaa Jabar, the head of the Sadrist office in Maysan province. He served as the mayor of Amarah as well as the deputy governor of the province. Two other provincial council members were also detained.

The Iraqi military continues to dismantle the Mahdi Army’s leadership and infrastructure in Amarah. Police and Army units have “more than 20 individuals on warrants” over the past several days. The US military often refers to members of the Mahdi Army as criminals or members of the Iranian-backed Special Groups.

Among those detained were “an Iraqi Police chief who is suspected of being a Special Groups criminal leader, facilitator and financier who has great influence over the IP in the area,” “the leader of a criminal cell specializing in sectarian killings and a financier for the organization,” and “a police officer wanted for his involvement with sectarian killings.”

US and Iraqi military officers believe most of the senior leaders of the Mahdi Army fled the region prior to the operation in Maysan. More than 1,300 Mahdi Army leaders and fighters fled to Iran, according to an Iraqi intelligence report.

The military has deployed three specialized units to Amarah to hunt the remnants of the Mahdi Army cadres. The Iraqi Special Operations Forces, the Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team, and the Baghdad National Emergency Response Unit are currently operating in Amarah in conjunction with Iraqi infantry and armored formations.

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