BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. and Iraqi joint forces arrested on Monday a leader of local paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters in an airdrop operation on his house in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial police officer said.
The airborne force conducted an operation before dawn on the town of al-Baghdadi, some 190 km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and arrested Maadi al-Obeidi, a leader of local tribal fighters affiliated with the Hashd Shaabi forces, the officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The troops transferred al-Obeidi to the nearby Ayn al-Asad airbase, where hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed, the source said, adding that there is no immediate information about the reason behind the arrest.
Ayn al-Asad, previously named al-Qadisiyah, is the second largest air base in Iraq and has the largest number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against Islamic State (IS) militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
The troops are part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
