Special Groups financier captured south of Baghdad

Bill Roggio brings us some good news from Iraq...

Coalition Special Operations Forces captured a "key Special Groups financier" with direct links to Iran's Qods Force in the city of Mahmudiyah on May 28. "He is suspected to be the primary financier between Iranian intelligence elements and Special Groups criminals in Mahmudiyah and southern Baghdad and was reportedly distributing funds to weapons smugglers supplying criminals in those areas," Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release.

The Special Groups financier has conducted his activities outside Iraq, according to Multinational Forces Iraq. He is "believed to travel to Iran and Syria to procure funds on behalf of Special Groups senior leadership."

Mahmudiyah is about 10 miles south of Baghdad. The city sits on what has been described as a sectarian fault line, where well-defined Sunni and Shia communities abut. Mahmudiyah was the scene of multiple mass-casualty suicide attacks in 2006 and early 2007, as al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army battled for control.