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Security forces on Thursday arrested four commanders of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr movement in Diwaniya, south Iraq,the clergy office said.

"Security forces captured four of Al-Sadr's movement in a raid operation to their houses across different parts of Diwaniya", Abu Zainab al-Garawi,media spokesman for al-Sadr's office in Diwaniya, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

The spokesman pointed out "two of Al-Sadr's members were arrested in Afak district, 33 km south-east Diwaniya, while the other two were captured in Jalabiya district, central Diwaniya".

He noted "two of the arrested members were commanders in al-Sadr's Mahdi army".

Earlier, Diwaniya emergency forces dubbed as al-Baqir brigade  captured 12 Sadrists in the centre of the southern province, following the clashes that erupted in several southern provinces after announcing the start of  a crackdown operation in Basra on Monday.

Diwaniya, the capital city of Diwaniya province, lies 180 km south Baghdad.