US seizes 'senior Iraq militant'

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US forces have captured a senior Shia militia leader and killed two others in a raid in the central Iraqi province of Diyala, the US military has said.

The military said the men were members of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to the Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr, who had defied his order to suspend activities.

The captured man is suspected of having ties to an Iranian intelligence cell.

On Friday, gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped the police chief of a nearby town and his bodyguards, police said.

Col Amer Nussayif Jasim, the chief of police in Miqdadiya, and seven of his colleagues were seized after their convoy was ambushed at a checkpoint near Baquba.

Diyala police have formed a taskforce to find the missing officers and have detained 13 Iraqi soldiers who were manning the checkpoint.

'Suicide vest'

Saturday's US operation in the village of al-Fawwaliya targeted the hideout of a "senior militia extremist" involved in weapons procurement, kidnappings and roadside bomb attacks against coalition forces, the US military said.

"As the assault force approached the building... two armed men with weapons and hand grenades manoeuvred on the assault force, one of whom was wearing a suicide vest," the statement said.

The men were killed because they "failed to comply with the instructions and warning shots", it added.

The splinter group leader later identified himself and surrendered peacefully to the US soldiers. Fourteen other "admitted criminals" were also detained, the military said.

"We continue to support the government of Iraq in welcoming the commitment by Moqtada Sadr to stop attacks and we will continue to show restraint in dealing with those who honour his pledge," US military spokesman Major Winfield Danielson said.

"However, as this operation illustrates, not all are honouring his pledge and some continue to conduct violent crimes against Iraqi citizens and security forces."

On Monday, Mr Sadr warned members of the Mehdi Army to obey the six-month suspension of its activities or risk being branded traitors.