Iraqi security forces said Sunday that a key al-Qaida leader and four Shiite militia leaders of Iran-backed Special Groups have been captured during the past 24 hours in the volatile province of Diyala.

A joint police and army force captured Mizher Lami Jemah, who is believed to be minister of agriculture in the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al-Qaida-led umbrella organization of extremist Sunni militant groups, a police source in Diyala said.

The troops raided Jemah's house in the village of Ghalbiyah near the city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Separately, a joint U.S. and Iraqi force searched villages near the town of Maqdadiyah, some 120 km northeast of Baghdad, and captured 11 suspected militants, four of them believed to be leaders of the Iran-backed Special Groups, the source said.

The Special Groups in the terminology of the U.S. military statements refer to Shiite militia extremists funded, trained and armed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force operatives.

U.S. and some Iraqi officials accuse Iran of arming, funding and training Shiite militias in Iraq. Tehran denies the accusations.

Early May, more than 40,000 of Iraqi security forces, including anti-Qaida paramilitary groups, launched an offensive aimed at chasing militant groups and criminal gangs. The current offensive marks the second page of the first operation code-named "Glad Tidings" which began last year.

Diyala, with its capital city of Baquba, has long been the hotbed of insurgency since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Source: Xinhua