Four killed as fierce fighting erupts in Iraq's Basra
BASRA, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi security forces fought raging battles with gunmen from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia in Basra on Tuesday amid a crackdown on armed groups in the southern oil city.
At least four people were killed and 18 wounded in the clashes, said police Major Abbas Youssef, as ambulances raced through the streets ferrying the wounded.
British military officials said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was in Basra to personally oversee the major security force sweep in Iraq's second largest city, but that British troops were not taking part.
An AFP correspondent said fighting involving mortars, machine guns and assault weapons erupted soon after the security forces entered the Al-Tamiyah neighbourhood, a bastion of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT). The fighting quickly spread to five other Mahdi Army neighbourhoods.
Television pictures showed Iraqi troops running through the streets firing weapons and taking cover as ambulances raced past. Thick palls of smoke were seen rising above the city's skyline.
Witnesses said the streets were empty aside from the security forces, emergency vehicles and people in cars fleeing the fighting. Shops and markets were closed.
Basra province was handed over to Iraqi control by British forces in mid-December.
It has since become the theatre of a bitter turf war between the Mahdi Army, the Badr organisation allied to the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of powerful politician Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, and the smaller Shiite party, Fadhila, ahead of provincial elections in October.
Police confirmed the start of the operation, dubbed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights) which came after a 10:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew was slapped on the entire Basra province late on Monday.
"We began operations at 5:00 am. There is fighting between security forces and the Mahdi Army," said police spokesman Major Karim al-Zubaidi.
A spokesman for Sadr's office in Basra, Harith al-Athari, told AFP that the Sadrists wanted to end the stand-off.
"The situation is bad and we regret the fighting. We are ready for negotiations and want to calm things," he said.
Liwa Sumaysim, head of Sadr's political bureau in the central city of Najaf, denounced the bloodletting.
"We do not want the situation as it is in Basra. We are against bloodshed, especially in this critical period of time," Sumaysim told AFP.
"The Sadr movement is being targeted in Basra, that is why this tension has been created. The Iraqi government forces should not use force against poor people," he added.
"Sadr emphasises the need to solve the problem peacefully through dialogue. Sadr is following the events and his instruction is to solve this problem politically with Iraq's leaders."
Sadr has ordered his militia to observe the ceasefire which he called last August following bloody fighting in the shrine city of Karbala blamed on his fighters.
After touring Basra on Monday, Maliki vowed his governmment would restore order, saying the city was experiencing a "brutal campaign" by internal and external groups targeting members of the scientific and religious communities "and other innocent men and women."
"This is accompanied by the smuggling of oil, weapons and drugs. The outlaws are finding support from within the state and outside. This is why Basra has become a city where civilians cannot even secure their lives and property," Maliki said in a statement.
"That has affected negatively the economic development. The federal Iraqi government... will restore security, stability and enforce law in this city."
Vehicle access to Basra has been temporarily closed from neighbouring provinces due to the curfew while teaching at schools and universities had been suspended.
Basra housewife Um Hussein said the crackdown had caught residents unawares.
"It is a difficult situation. Not many shops or grocery stores are open since the curfew and since the fighting began. We have not stored household items at all. I hope the fighting ends quickly."
In Baghdad, meanwhile, hundreds of followers of Sadr protested against the arrests of members of Mahdi Army.
They marched through the city's western neighbourhoods as shops, schools and offices remained closed.
