An Iraqi Mahdi Army fighter takes cover during clashes in the southern city of Basra. Militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr battled Iraqi and US troops for a second day in Baghdad and the second city of Basra amid a crackdown on Iraq's most powerful militia.
(AFP)
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Militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr battled Iraqi and US troops for a second day Wednesday in Baghdad and the second city of Basra amid a crackdown on Iraq's most powerful militia.
At least 20 people were killed and 115 wounded in clashes between fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi and US forces in Baghdad's Sadr City in the past 24 hours, a security official said on Wednesday.
"Those killed and wounded included men, women and children. The wounded have been admitted to five different hospitals in and around Sadr City," the official from the interior ministry said.
Renewed fighting broke out around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday) in Sadr City, Baghdad bastion of the cleric's Mahdi Army militia, security officials said.
Qassim al-Sueidi, head of the local Imam Ali hospital, said four people were killed and 24 wounded in the fighting in the impoverished northeast Baghdad neighbourhood of two million people.
Sporadic clashes with Iraqi and US troops continued during the day, witnesses said.
Fighting also broke after dawn between Mahdi Army fighters and Iraqi troops in Basra prompting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to give the militia a 72-hour deadline to lay down its weapons in the city.
Battles were raging in the Mahdi Army strongholds of Al-Gaazaiza, Al-Garma, Khmasamene, Al-Hayania and Al-Maqal neighbourhoods of Basra, witnesses said.
"We are not going to chase those who hand over their weapons within 72 hours," said Maliki, who has been in the city to supervise the military operation.
"If they do not surrender their arms, the law will follow its course," the Basra Operational Command quoted the premier as saying.
Clashes began in the southern oil hub on Tuesday after Baghdad ordered a crackdown on militia in the city.
Police said 218 militiamen had been detained since the launch of the security sweep, which has been codenamed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights).
Residents said the streets of Basra were deserted on Wednesday even after a night-time curfew ended at 6 am (0300 GMT), and schools and most shops remained closed.
They said however there were fewer security force personnel on the streets than on Tuesday, when police and troops deployed in vast numbers across Basra.
The city has become the theatre of a bitter turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party -- ahead of provincial elections in October.
The three factions are fighting to control the huge oil revenues generated by the city, seen as the economic nerve centre of the country.
The assault on the militia in Basra triggered clashes in other Shiite cities on Tuesday including Kut and Hilla as well as Sadr City.
As a precautionary measure, authorities also imposed curfews on other Shiite cities including Nasiriyah and Samawa.
Enraged by the crackdown on his fighters, Sadr threatened on Tuesday to launch nationwide protests and a civil revolt.
"We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people. We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces," Sadr said in a statement.
"If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces."
Sadr's political bloc threatened to boycott parliament "until the government agrees to our demands," said Liqa al-Yassin, an MP from the 32-member bloc.
Tuesday's clashes in Basra left seven people dead and dozens more wounded.
The US military said "terrorists" launched 12 mortar and rocket attacks from Sadr City on Tuesday, some of them hitting Baghdad's Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy.
The attacks resulted in limited civilian injuries and minor damage to buildings and vehicles, it said.
"Extremists continue to fire indiscriminately from the vicinity of Sadr City putting the residents of Baghdad at risk," said Colonel Allen Batschelet from the US military.
More mortars were fired at the Green Zone on Wednesday, Iraqi officials said, adding that one hit a residential building outside the heavily fortified complex killing one person and wounding four.
In a separate statement, the military said the "terrorist forces" also attacked three Iraqi army checkpoints and the building of Maliki's Dawa Party in Sadr City with small arms fire on Tuesday.
The fighting has placed a serious question mark over a ceasefire declared by Sadr in August and renewed last month.
US military Brigadier General Mike Milano blamed "rogue elements" of the Mahdi Army for the attacks on Tuesday, saying they were violating "Moqtada al-Sadr's ceasefire announcement."
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