Marching_On_Together

Radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al Sadr has threatened a "civil revolt" across Iraq as security forces fought his militiamen for control of Basra.

Police on Basra's streetsBattles raged from early morning in areas of Basra controlled by Sadr's Mehdi Army militia as troops and police launched a major crackdown on armed groups in the oil-rich town.

At least four people were killed and 18 wounded, with reports putting the totals as high as 22 and 48 respectively.

Fighting also erupted in Baghdad when Mehdi militiamen attacked offices of the rival Badr militia, while in the west of the capital hundreds of Sadr supporters took to the streets to protest the arrests of Mehdi Army members.

Fighting in Basra subsided in the afternoon, although gunfire could still be heard and warplanes and helicopters flew over the city of 1.5 million people.

Sadr warned he would launch protests and a nationwide strike if attacks against members of his movement and "poor people" are not halted.



"We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people," he said in a statement.

"We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces. If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces."

In August, the cleric ordered his militia to observe a ceasefire following bloody fighting in the shrine city of Karbala blamed on his fighters, which were involved in two rebellions against US forces in 2004.

While Iraqi and US officials say most members of the militia have heeded the order, a number of what the US military terms "rogue elements" continue to attack American forces with mortars, rockets and roadside bombs.


Mehdi Army fighters in Sadr CityDespite the ceasefire, Mahdi Army members are being subject to raids by the "occupiers" and Iraqi forces which are "destroying Iraqi houses," Sadr's statement said.

Gunmen and police clashed in the southern city of Kut, where last week Mehdi Army fighters battled police.

The streets were empty and shops closed. Police said a curfew had been imposed.

In Baghdad's Sadr City, a sprawling slum of about two million people that is Sadr's biggest stronghold, residents said armed Mehdi Army fighters had appeared on the streets and ordered Iraqi police and soldiers to get out of the district.

The Basra operation was launched after Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki visited Basra and vowed to reimpose his government's control over the city.

Mr al Maliki stayed on to oversee the operation, which drew troop reinforcements from across Iraq.


Muqtada al SadrIraqi army Major-General Ali Zaidan, the commander of Iraqi ground forces in the operation, said the offensive started at dawn and would continue "until we achieve our target".

"This is the first time that the Iraqi government has moved to show its in control in Basra, a city seen as largely under the control of the militias," said Sky News foreign affairs correspondent Lisa Holland.

"The fact that Nouri al Maliki has gone to Basra himself to over see the operation is significant - showing that Basra is part of Iraq and not lost to Shia control in the south and the central government of Baghdad.

"It's a huge operation - additional troops have been brought from Baghad from Iraqi army to back up those in Basra.

"The Iraqi security forces have been building up their numbers and their capability."

A spokesman told Sky News that British soldiers were "supporting the operation" from outside the city.

"The Iraqis are fully responsible for security in Basra. We do not go into the city," he said.

"We have troops outside the city supporting the operation. Their role is to put a presence on the ground outside the city. It is a routine deployment."