Iraqi Troops (with U.S. advisors) Nab Big Fish From Promised Day Brigade In Baghdad

The Iraqis are turning up the heat on the splinter groups of the Mahdi Army that are all backed by direct links to Iran. Today, from the article here at The Long War Journal, Iraqi troops along with U.S. "advisors" captured a top leader of the splinter group, the Promised Day Brigade. From the article:

Iraqi troops, backed by US advisers, captured a senior leader in a Mahdi Army offshoot group with links to Iran during a raid in Baghdad.
The senior leader of the Promised Day Brigade was detained in northern Baghdad, with the help of intelligence gathered from both US and Iraq security forces.

If you remember, our little buck toothed mole, Mookie Al Sadr, disbanded his Mahdi Militia a couple of years ago when his back was up against the wall, but then he secretly formed some splinter groups that would continue the Iranian intervention in the Iraq War. The Promised Day Brigade is one of those groups. Now, of course, the Iranians will disavow all connections with this leader and this group but we all know where al Sadr's allegiance always has been. Hell, he spent most of the Iraq War IN Iran!

But it's good to see the Iraqis hunting these ass hats down.

Iraqi troops capture Mahdi Army military leader

Iraqi troops, backed by US advisers, captured a senior leader in a Mahdi Army offshoot group with links to Iran during a raid in Baghdad.
The senior leader of the Promised Day Brigade was detained in northern Baghdad, with the help of intelligence gathered from both US and Iraq security forces.
The Promised Day Brigade commander, who was not identified, was "believed to be facilitating the distribution of weapons and funding to PDB [Promised Day Brigade] attack groups throughout Baghdad," the US military said in a press release. "Attack groups then use the weapons and funding to conduct deadly acts of violence against civilians and security forces in Iraq."
The US military said the commander "is allegedly tied to PDB [Promised Day Brigade] leaders operating from safe havens in Iran."
The Promised Day Brigade was formed by anti-American Shia leader Muqtada al Sadr during the summer of 2008 after he announced he would disband the Mahdi Army and formed a small, secretive military arm to fight Coalition forces in June. The group has not been linked to any major attacks since its formation last summer.

The Iraqi military has stepped up operations against the Promised Day Brigade and the Mahdi Army since the beginning of November, when three members of the PDB were captured in Baghdad on Nov. 7. Starting with that capture, 18 members of the Promised Day Brigade and the Mahdi Army, including two commanders, have been arrested in Baghdad, Amarah, and Al Kut [see list below].
The biggest catch took place on Nov. 29, when Iraqi forces captured the leader of the Promised Day Brigade in Amarah. That same day, Iraqi officials announced they were seeking to capture a senior member of the Qods Force, the special operations branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iran has backed a host of Shia terror groups in Iraq, including the Mahdi Army and the Promised Day Brigade, the Asaib al Haq, and the Hezbollah Brigades [see LWJ report, "Iraqi forces search for Qods Force agents" and "Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq" for more details on Iran's involvement in Iraq].