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Troops pour into south Iraqi city
Iraqi troops and police backed by US forces have been sent to the southern city of Amara in a fresh operation against Shia gunmen, officials say.
Iraqi army tanks have been patrolling major streets in the city and the security forces set up checkpoints.
Hundreds were reported killed in March in battles which began in Basra and spread to Baghdad and elsewhere.
A main militia leader, Moqtada Sadr, has ordered his Mehdi Army followers to observe a ceasefire, but the authorities say attacks by Shia militiamen have continued. Helicopters dropped leaflets on Amara, the capital of Maysan province, urging residents to stay at home and not to interfere with the operation.
A spokesman for US forces declined to give details other than saying it was led and planned by the Iraqis. Iraqi troops and police backed by US forces have been sent to the southern city of Amara in a fresh operation against Shia gunmen, off... more -
Curfew called in Baghdad amid fighting; Sadr cancels million man march
Iraqi authorities have imposed a curfew on Baghdad today on the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to US forces. Muqtada Al-Sadr has also cancelled a million-man march originally planned to be staged in Baghdad today.
An official in the Baghdad operations command for Iraqi security forces has said that cars and motorcycles are banned from the streets of the Iraqi capital between 5am and midnight.
Sporadic gunfire and explosions continued across Baghdad's Sadr City district last night. Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia has been fighting with US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City near Baghdad for the past three days.
Al-Sadr has threatened to end his shaky 7 month old ceasefire with US forces, credited in large part to the success of Bush's "surge" strategy. In a communiqué released in Baghdad yesterday, he demanded the Iraqi government protect the public from what he called the booby traps and American militias or he would formally end the call for non-violent resistance. Iraqi authorities have imposed a curfew on Baghdad today on the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to US forces. Muqtada Al-Sadr... more -
Iraq's PM threatens to bar Sadr from vote
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.
"A decision was taken... that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," Mr Maliki said. "Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army," he said.
Sadr spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi rejected the ultimatum: "No one can intervene in the Mehdi Army; only those who established it and the religious leaders," he said.
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying they would be barred ... more -
Million man march in Iraq?
Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march in Iraq.
On Wednesday, April 9th, the march would mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Baghdad by US-led forces. Al-Sadr seeks to join all Iraq's ethnicities in a show of unity against the coalition of the increasingly unwilling, and as a rejection of signs of federalism, or sectarian division of Iraq.
'It is time you expressed your rejection of the unjust occupiers and raise your voices against them,' a message from Al-Sadr's office in Najaf stated.
Al-Sadr, in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera, rejected the idea of "liberation" because he claimed life was better under former President Saddam Hussein.
The recent cease-fire and call for peaceful demonstrations could be seen as an attempt to deescalate the recent surge of fighting; however, Al-Sadr said he supported "armed resistance" against US-led forces.
Al-Sadr has called for Million Man marches in previous years to mark the beginning of the occupation, as well as to show support for Lebanon during the July 2006 hostilities with Israel. Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march in Iraq. ... more -
Iraq's Sadr orders followers off streets
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers on Sunday to stop battling government forces after a week of fighting in southern Iraq and Baghdad threatened to spiral out of control.
A crackdown on Shi'ite militants in the southern oil port of Basra has sparked an explosion of violence that has risked undoing the past year's improvements in Iraq's security.
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers on Sunday to stop battling government forces after a week of fighting in ... more -
Violence in Iraq to start rising again?
Remember the cease-fire called by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr back at the end of August? Officials are acknowledging that move to be largely responsible for the decrease in violence in Iraq, after the Mahdi Army members put down their guns on the order of their cleric. The cease-fire is set to expire at the end of the month, and a message has gone out that if al-Sadr hasn't extended the cease-fire by the 23rd of February, then followers would "be free to resume their activities." Why would he want to lift the ban? Apparently, al-Sadr is upset that the Iraqi government hasn't purged "criminal gangs" operating within security forces he claims are targeting his followers.
Ugh. Remember the cease-fire called by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr back at the end of August? Officials are acknowledging that move to ... more -
Muqtada al-Sadr Orders 6 Month Militia Activity Suspension
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said that his militia needs to take 6 months to reorganize - in recent months, his Mahdi Army has broken into many different factions - and therefore suspended all activity starting today for up to 6 months. In his statement, he specifically said that the suspension included actions against "occupiers" (aka the U.S.). His order came after 52 were killed in fighting in Karbala where Shiite pilgrims had come for a religious event. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said that his militia needs to take 6 months to reorganize - in recent months, his Mahdi Army has broken... more
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Pilgrimage to Karbala Cut Short
The Iraqi government has ordered 1 million Shiite pilgrims to leave the southern city of Karbala after fighting between government security forces and militiamen (likely loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr) killed 26.As if that weren't enough, north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces were battling Sunni insurgents who had been blocking the flow of water to the Shiite town of Khalis. 33 insurgents were killed, but there was no word on Iraqi or U.S. forces casualties.And there's more - a suicide bombing at a mosque in Fallujah (a Sunni city west of Baghdad) on Monday night killed 11. The Iraqi government has ordered 1 million Shiite pilgrims to leave the southern city of Karbala after fighting between government sec... more
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Muqtada al-Sadr
