US to intensify fight against Qaeda after Iraq militia freeze
BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military said on Saturday the freeze on militia activities by Iraq's Shiite Mahdi Army will help in the fight against Al-Qaeda, blamed for some of the bloodiest attacks in the war-ravaged country.
The US assessment came as the latest figures from Iraqi ministries showed that the death toll from insurgent attacks and sectarian violence had risen in August, despite a US troop "surge" launched in February.
A US statement said radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's decision to rein in his feared Mahdi Army would help American and Iraqi forces "intensify their focus on Al-Qaeda-Iraq without distraction from Jaysh al-Mahdi attacks."
But despite the declaration, US and Iraqi forces launched a raid early on Saturday in Baghdad's Sadr City, an impoverished slum that is home to about one million Shiites, most of them loyal to Sadr.
The military said three people were detained, and one vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb while returning from the mission.
Pictures showed the mangled remains of at least four cars hit by artillery fire.
Jaysh al-Mahdi, widely known as the Mahdi Army, has carried out sustained attacks against US-led troops since the March 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"Moqtada al-Sadr's declaration holds the potential to reduce criminal activity and help reunite Iraqis separated by ethno-sectarian violence and fear," the military said.
Sadr on Wednesday ordered the militia to suspend all activities for six months after it was blamed for gunbattles with police in the shrine city of Karbala that left 52 people dead and turned a Shiite pilgrimage into a bloodbath.
Last December the Pentagon identified the militia as the greatest threat to stability in the country, even ahead of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the local affiliate of Osama bin Laden's global network.
The office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, under fire for failing to bring security and stability to Iraq, said Sadr's order was "an opportunity for other militias of different political affiliations" to lay down their arms and help reduce bloodshed.
The US military has in the past year stepped up efforts to secure the support of Sunni rebel groups to help Iraqi forces fight Al-Qaeda.
Sunni insurgent groups such as the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution sprang up across Iraq declaring war against US-led forces after they toppled Saddam's Sunni Arab regime.
The US military said this week the Brigades are among Sunni groups that are now helping fight a collective battle against Al-Qaeda which US generals say is responsible for much of the violence in Iraq.
On August 14, in the worst attack since the invasion, more than 400 people were slaughtered in two northern villages inhabited by the minority Yazidi community. The military blamed the attacks on Al-Qaeda.
That single attack helped push the August civilian death toll in Iraq to 1,771, up seven percent from July, statistics compiled by the health, interior and defence ministries show.
August's toll is also higher than February, when the United States launched a "surge" during which Baghdad and its surrounds were flooded with 28,500 extra troops in a bid to stem sectarian bloodletting.
In that month 1,626 civilians were killed, according to the ministries' figures.
The toll hit a high of 1,951 in May but dipped in June to 1,241, although it climbed again in July when 1,652 civilians were recorded killed.
US officials claim sectarian killings have gone down in and around Baghdad, but many insurgents appear to have fled to remote regions.
Militants also continue to launch near-daily attacks on the local security forces, killing 85 police and soldiers in August, according to the latest figures.
The violence continued on Saturday, with security officials reporting six people killed in various incidents, including three brothers shot dead near the oil city of Kirkuk.
Meanwhile, dozens of Iraqi leftists protested in Baghdad against the controversial oil law expected to be debated in parliament when it reconvenes next week after a month-long summer break.
"The very law aims at stealing the wealth of Iraq," said trade union leader Subhi al-Badri, adding that Baghdad was under pressure from Washington to pass the bill in the assembly.
Washington sees the oil law, which aims to share the revenues from oil exports equally among 18 provinces of Iraq, as a key cornerstone to achieve national reconciliation.
