US-Iraqi sweep south of Baghdad nets Syrian, Iranian rebels: national guard

AFP: An operation by US and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad
has netted two Syrian “terrorists” and an unknown number of Iranians, an official from Iraq’s national guard said on Friday. US-led forces, Iraqi police and national guardsmen conducted the two-day sweep in a belt of farming towns — Mahmudiyah, Latifiyah and Iskandariyah — known as the triangle of death … AFP

MAHNUDIYAH, Iraq – An operation by US and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad has netted two Syrian “terrorists” and an unknown number of Iranians, an official from Iraq’s national guard said on Friday.

US-led forces, Iraqi police and national guardsmen conducted the two-day sweep in a belt of farming towns — Mahmudiyah, Latifiyah and Iskandariyah — known as the triangle of death, where militants have killed and kidnapped foreigners and locals, the official said on condition of anonymity.

He said “the operation is designed to stabilise the region.”

The arrests took place in the same area as an ongoing push by US and Iraqi forces that was launched last week, under the name “Phantom Fury”.