Iraqi forces fight Mehdi Army in Basra

Aref Mohammed, Reuters
Iraqi security forces battled the Mehdi Army militia in Basra on Tuesday in a drive to win control of the southern oil city, but violence and unrest spread to Baghdad and other cities. Police and health workers said at least 12 people were killed in the fighting in districts of central and northern Basra where Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has a strong presence. In a statement read out by a senior aide on Tuesday, Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins all over Iraq and said he would declare a "civil revolt" if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi security forces continued. He also threatened a "third step", but said it was too early to announce what it would be...
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Curfew clamped on Basra

Voices of Iraq

Iraqi security forces imposed a curfew on Basra and suspended studying until further notice, while Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asserted that the city is facing pressures on its security and stability. "The National Defense Center decided to impose a curfew as of today until further notice and to impose a vehicle ban throughout the province as well as suspend studying in the Basra schools," a statement released by the National Defense Center and read by Maj. General Abdul Karim Khalaf highlighted. Meanwhile, Prime Minsiter Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement aired by the state-run al-Iraqia satellite television, "Basra faces many internal and foreign pressures against its security and stability through targeting its religious, scientific, and social figures and this is being accompanied by smuggling oil, weapons, and drugs."...

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Update On The Fighting In Basra

By Roads To Iraq The situation right now is nothing to do with “Iraqi government” or “Iraqi Army”, it is a Shiite-Shiite war, Mahdi Army with primitive arms and “Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution” [formed by Iran] with an army and supported by the Americans.

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