Baghdad, Aug 5 (DPA) US and Iraqi forces have captured a senior commander of terrorist organisation Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, the US military command in Baghdad said Tuesday.

A statement said the outfit's second-in-command, Fakri Hadi Gari, was seized in a combined operation carried out in the northern city of Mosul July 24.

Nine other leading members of the group were captured along with Hadi Gari, who was believed responsible for recruitment and finance as well as operational activities, the statement said.

Ansar al-Islam was founded at the end of 2001 in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq while Saddam Hussein was still president.

Ansar al-Islam has an extensive network in Europe, organising funding and support for armed attacks within Iraq.

Spanish authorities blame the European wing of the group for the Madrid train bombings that killed more than 190 people in March 2004.