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US says Five Iranian Proxy Insurgents Held in Iraq | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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BAGHDAD (AFP) – American troops in the Iraqi capital on Saturday arrested five suspected insurgents from a group acting as proxies of Iran, the US military said in a statement.

The five men were detained without incident at three separate locations in Baghdad, the statement said, adding that they were all members of an organisation known as Kata’ib Hezbollah.

“Kata’ib Hezbollah funnels weapons and material into Iraq from Iran, which is then used to conduct attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces,” the statement said.

It said at least 30 Hezbollah members had been arrested in Iraq in the past two months.

“Kata’ib Hezbollah is assessed to be a proxy of Iran, and its members are believed to employ improvised rocket assisted mortars as well as explosively formed penetrators in civilian areas,” the statement said.

Iran routinely denies supporting Iraqi insurgents.

Earlier this month, a senior Iraqi police officer said groups of Shiite extremists trained in Iran were returning to the country with plans to bomb high-profile targets.

Shiite special groups have been blamed for much of the violence in Iraq, but a series of military crackdowns in Shiite-majority areas of the country forced many leaders of such groups to flee.