Iraqi Forces Battle Gunmen in Basra

By Sholnn Freeman and Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; 11:39 AM

BAGHDAD, March 25 -- Gun battles erupted between Iraqi security forces and Shiite armed groups in the southern oil city of Basra on Tuesday as the government launched a security offensive against the feuding militias that have turned the city into one of Iraq's most dangerous zones.

The targeted groups include members of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, further risking the breakdown of a ceasefire imposed by Sadr over the organization last summer. The ceasefire has been credited with tamping down violence throughout the country but seemed to be fraying as armed groups clashed with security forces in Basra and in several eastern Baghdad neighborhoods.

The Associated Press also reported fighting in the southern Iraqi town of Kut, where Sadr loyalists had reportedly taken control of several neighborhoods.

In addition, U.S. Embassy officials confirmed additional shelling Tuesday of the protected Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government are housed. A spokeswoman said the embassy had no information on casualties. Officials said that one Army employee had died as a result of a day-long Green Zone shelling attack Sunday and that a Jordanian Embassy employee remains hospitalized.

Residents in Basra reported sporadic clashes beginning early Tuesday morning in the neighborhoods of Hayania, Jubaila and Jumhuria -- known Sadr strongholds. In telephone interviews, they described seeing military vehicles, soldiers and policemen exchanging fire with armed groups.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 13 gunmen had been killed, along with three Iraqi policemen, and six civilians were dead, police said. Scores more were injured, and at least five military vehicles were set ablaze, according to police.

"No one is on the street," said Mohammed Kadhim, who owns a clothing shop in the center of the city. As he spoke, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. "I am not able to go out of my house." He said one of his neighbors was shot in the face and was in critical condition.

By Tuesday afternoon, there were reports of clashes unfolding in several neighborhoods in eastern Baghdad between Iraqi security forces and armed groups, as well as between rival Shiite gangs.

In an interview, an Iraqi interior ministry said Mahdi Army gunmen stormed two offices of the Dawa Party, led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and clashed with guards. The clashes left five Mahdi Army gunmen and two Dawa Party guards dead, police said.

The clashes came as Sadr's movement mounted a nationwide civil disobedience campaign in many parts of eastern and central Baghdad, demanding the release of Sadr's followers from detention centers and an end to Iraqi government raids. Sadrist leaders ordered stores to be shut down and taxi and bus drivers to stop operating. Television footage Tuesday showed neighborhoods turned into virtual ghost towns, their usually busy streets all but empty.

In a statement, Sadr called upon Iraqis to stage sit-ins and threatened a nationwide "civil revolt" if U.S. and Iraqi forces continue attacking and arresting his followers.

The actions were the latest sign that the ceasefire imposed by Sadr on his Mahdi Army militia is under strain.

U.S. military commanders have commended the ceasefire. They view it as a key reason why violence levels have dropped in recent months across Iraq, along with a U.S.-troop buildup and the rise of a Sunni movement, fueled by tribesman and former insurgents, against radical jihadists.

But in recent weeks, many Mahdi Army leaders and Sadr loyalists have urged the cleric to remove the ceasefire, as Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops have raided and detained hundreds of Sadr followers in several southern cities in the past few months.

"The plan that is being implemented in Basra is meant to pass political agendas and not bring security," Harith al-Ithari, the head of Sadr's office in Basra, said in a phone interview with Iraq's al-Sharqiya television network. "But we are working together with all sides to bring back stability to the city."

Violence has gripped Basra since December, when British troops handed over control of the province to the Iraqi government. A power struggle between the Mahdi Army and its main rival, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and its armed wing, the Badr Brigade, has battered the city in recent months.

But smaller Shiite militias are also locked into fighting. Tuesday's clashes erupted a day after Maliki traveled to Basra to oversee a security crackdown.

Ahead of the offensive, the Iraqi government closed off land access to the city from Tuesday through Thursday and imposed a nighttime curfew until further notice. The government ordered schools, institutes and universities to cancel classes Tuesday through Thursday and banned all movement of vehicles to Basra from other provinces until further notice.

A Maliki adviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, said Monday that the prime minister was determined to bring the area under control and not leave the security of the people "threatened by gangs and murders."

Maj. Tim Holloway, a spokesman for the British military, said fighting was unfolding in districts in the center of Basra. British forces are standing by, he said, but are not involved in the security crackdown. He said coalition forces were providing surveillance support with aircraft flying overhead.

"Iraq can deal with the challenges in Basra," Holloway said. "It's an indication of the Iraqi military's confidence in their own ability and their willingness to do so." He described the security crackdown as "enormously encouraging."

The British have about 4,100 troops in the area, most at the city's airport and none inside Basra proper. Since handing over the province to the Iraqi government, the British have limited their role to training Iraqi security forces.

Special correspondents K.I. Ibrahim, Zaid Sabah, Dalya Hassan and Naseer Nouri in Baghdad contributed to this report.