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Fighting rages in Baghdad, Basra
26/03/2008 09:06 - (SA)
Baghdad - Iraq's leaders faced their gravest challenge in months on Tuesday as Shi'ite militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr battled government forces for control of the southern oil capital, fought US and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and unleashed rockets on the Green Zone.
Armed Mahdi Army militiamen appeared on some Baghdad streets for the first time in more than six months, as al-Sadr's followers announced a nationwide campaign of strikes and demonstrations to protest a government crackdown on their movement. Merchants shuttered their shops in commercial districts in several Baghdad neighbourhoods.
US and Iraqi troops backed by helicopters fought Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad's Sadr City district after the local office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party came under attack, the US said. Residents of the area reported intermittent explosions and gunfire in the area late on Tuesday.
Shi'ite power struggle
The burgeoning crisis - part of an intense power struggle among Shi'ite political factions - has major implications for the United States. An escalation could unravel the ceasefire which al-Sadr proclaimed last August. A resumption of fighting by his militia could kill more US soldiers and threaten - at least in the short run - the security gains Washington has hailed as a sign that Iraq is on the road to recovery.
The confrontation will also test the skill and resolve of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government in dealing with Shi'ite militias, with whom the national leadership had maintained close ties.
Underscoring the serious stakes at play, al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, remained in the southern city of Basra to command the security operation. Sweeps were launched at dawn to rid the city of militias and criminal gangs that ruled the streets even before the British handed over control to the Iraqis in December.
US and Iraqi officials believe some factions of al-Sadr's movement maintain close ties with Iran, which provides them with weapons, money and training. Iran denies the allegation.
Basra, located near the Iranian border about 547km southeast of Baghdad, is the centre of the country's vast oil industry. Stability in the city is essential if Iraq is to attract huge investments needed to restore its neglected oil fields and export facilities.
Throughout the day, the sounds of explosions and machine gunfire echoed through Basra's streets as Iraqi soldiers and police fought the Mahdi Army in at least four strategic neighbourhoods.
At least 31 people were killed and 88 wounded, according to police and hospital officials.
Rockets fired at Green Zone
In Baghdad, several salvos of rockets were fired at the US-protected Green Zone, which houses the American and British embassies. There were no reports of casualties, but the blasts sent people scurrying for concrete bunkers.
Lawmakers from al-Sadr's movement announced that a civil disobedience campaign which began on Monday in selected neighbourhoods of the capital was being extended nationwide. The campaign was seen as an indication that the Sadrists want to assert their power without provoking a major showdown with the Americans, who inflicted massive casualties on the Mahdi Army during fighting in 2004.
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