Center for a New American Security

McClatchy has news of a chaotic raid in Diyala by a "special unit" of Iraqi forces (which, if the account is correct, sounds like Iraqi Special Operations Forces/ISOF -- the LA Times describes them as "counter-terrorism" forces). The raid hit the provincial government compound, killing the governor's secretary. Hussein al Zubaidi, a provincial council member and head of the provincial security committee, was arrested and the Iraqi forces involved in the raid seized computers and cars. Oh yeah, the raid also triggered a two-hour gun battle with Iraqi police.

Elsewhere, a raid arrested the president of Diyala University. All the detained men were Sunnis, triggering an angry statement by the IIP. Diyala's Governor, Raad Rashid al-Tamimi, is Shia, but Sunni politicians were quick to portray both the raid on his office and the arrest of the university president as part of a crackdown against Sunnis. This follows on the heels of recent reports, noted by Dr. iRack yesterday, that Iraqi forces have gone after Sunni Sons of Iraq groups in Diyala during ongoing operations (more here).

Although Maliki's office denies that he ordered the raids, if the units involved were ISOF forces, this denial rings hollow, since these units now report directly to the prime minister.

Were Americans involved in the raids? The Diyala Operations Center says yes, and if the units involved were ISOF, it would also be very unusual for U.S. SOF not to accompany them. The U.S. military command claims they were not involved. According to McClatchy:

American officials disputed this account. Maj. John Hall and Navy Lt. Patrick Evans, both U.S. military spokesmen, issued identical statements saying the operation was conducted "without the knowledge or assistance of coalition forces."

But, if American SOF were involved, it would not be the first time that they did a raid in somebody else's AOR without the full knowledge of conventional units operating in that area.

The fog of war is pretty thick here, but let's just say that none of this bodes well for Sunni-Shia relations . . . or U.S.-Sunni relations if our SOF were involved.

Update: The NYT reports that the gun battle with police lasted 30 minutes (not 2 hours), and that U.S. military helicopters were overhead. But the U.S. military is still saying they had no knowledge of the raid ahead of time. Maliki is scrambling to do some damage-control, calling for an investigation.