Dozens of militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were arrested in a massive assault by US and Iraqi troops in the central city of Diwaniyah, officials said on Monday. Iraqi security officials said that 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen supported by military tanks and hundreds of US and Polish troops launched the assault on Saturday to flush out Shiite militants from the city.Hussain al-Buderi, a member of the Qadisiyah provincial council, said that 49 militants from the Sadr group, including four leaders, were arrested since the launch of "Operation Lion's Leap". Witnesses said the city of more than one million people was under curfew and US aircraft were dropping leaflets urging locals to cooperate in locating militant hideouts. Sadr's office in the town of Nafar, south of Diwaniyah, was also raided on Monday as part of the crackdown, Buderi told AFP.
Diwaniyah's police chief Major General Ali Akmoosh said the assault also led to the dismissal of 70 policemen, including some officers. "They have been dismissed for supporting armed gangs," he told AFP.