U.S. Forces Detain 25 "Rogue" Iraq Shi'ite Militiamen

Source Article HERE.

From Reuters: U.S. forces said they had detained 25 suspected Shi'ite militiamen during raids in Baghdad on Monday in the latest operation against groups it says are defying a ceasefire by Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army. The U.S. military has been aggressively targeting what it calls rogue elements of the cleric's militia who are ignoring the six-month freeze in attacks Sadr announced last August. The U.S. military said troops had detained the 25 militiamen in an area near Sadr City, the sprawling Shi'ite slum in northeast Baghdad, and one of Sadr's power bases. "We knew exactly who we wanted to pick up," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Stover, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad, said in a statement.

Attacks in Iraq are down by 60 percent since last June on the back of a boost of 30,000 extra U.S. troops, a decision by Sunni Arab tribal leaders to turn against al Qaeda and the ceasefire ordered by Sadr last year. The Pentagon used to describe the Mehdi Army as the greatest threat to peace in Iraq, a term it now reserves for Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.

Last week, Sadr issued an order to his militia to maintain the ceasefire, amid rumors it was about to come to an end. Some members of the Mehdi Army have voiced discontent, saying U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces have taken advantage of the ceasefire to target them.