A Shia militia leader accused of forcibly removing Sunnis from their homes north of Baghdad was captured in a raid, while another operation in the same area left 25 people dead, the US military said today.
The commander was detained yesterday after US forces raided Khalis, a Shia enclave of 150,000 people in the volatile Diyala province some 50 miles north of Baghdad.
The man led a group of 20 insurgents that was allegedly responsible for a July attack in which Sunnis were forcibly removed and their homes and farms were destroyed, the military said, adding no one was killed or wounded.
The commander, who was not identified, also was suspected of ambushing a Sunni van driver, shooting him and throwing his body in the Tigris River, the military said.
Another pre-dawn raid yesterday in the same town killed at least 25 people after troops met a fierce barrage while hunting suspected arms smuggling links between
Iran and Shia militiamen. The military described those killed in air strikes as fighters, but village leaders said the victims included children and men protecting their homes. Also yesterday, the US military said it was investigating the deaths of three civilians shot by American sentries near an Iraqi-manned checkpoint. Iraqi officials said the victims were US-allied guards and were mistakenly targeted.