U.S. claims success against extremists

Two operations separately targeted Sunni and Shiite extremists.

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. forces said they waged successful battles against both Sunni and Shiite extremists and announced Thursday they had seized two men possibly linked to the capture of three American soldiers earlier this year.

The battles north and south of Baghdad came as the military seeks to take advantage of the improving security situation in Iraq to carry out targeted operations against extremist groups and the foreign-led al-Qaida in Iraq.

In recent weeks, the Americans have been fighting al-Qaida extremists in the area around Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of the capital. The battle against insurgent groups has steadily moved away from Anbar province and Baghdad, and is now focused on the fringes of Diyala province.

“Coalition forces killed 12 terrorists, detained 37 suspects and freed one hostage during a multi-day operation from Dec. 22 to 25 to disrupt al-Qaida networks near Muqdadiyah in the Diyala River Valley,” an announcement said.

In another operation targeting a Shiite extremist group southeast of Baghdad, U.S. military forces killed 11 militants Thursday. They were reportedly members of an extremist group that had broken away from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

Al-Sadr has declared a cease-fire and said that any Mahdi Army members who do not abide by his freeze will no longer be considered members of the powerful militia. The August cease-fire came after al-Sadr reportedly began losing control of some of the more extremist elements and death squads in his militia.

The cease-fire has been credited for contributing significantly to a 60 percent decline in violence over the past six months. Other contributing factors included an influx of thousands of U.S. troops and the formation of mostly Sunni groups of paid volunteers who agreed to battle al-Qaida for the United States military.