Iran Focus

London, Sep. 27 - Coalition forces captured five suspected proxy agents of Iran Saturday morning in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, the United States military announced.

The five, who were arrested in three separate locations without incident, were members of the Kata'ib Hezbollah network, the Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) said in a statement.

"Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted suspected criminals linked to recent rocket attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces", it said. "Kata'ib Hezbollah funnels weapons and materiel into Iraq from Iran, which is then used to conduct attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces".

"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.

Coalition forces have captured more than 30 Kata'ib Hezbollah members in the last two months, according to the U.S. military.

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