Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has given militiamen in the southern province of Maysan four days to surrender their weapons ahead of a military assault in the Shiite stronghold.
“Those who have heavy and medium weapons, explosives or sniper guns, must hand them over to the security forces over the next four days until June 18 in return for cash,” Maliki said in a statement issued late on Saturday.
He said those who are accused of crimes but “do not have blood of Iraqis on their hands” must also report to the security forces within four days.
After the deadline on Thursday, security forces will start search operations.
“As part of our continuing efforts to impose security and law and putting an end to the chaos of crimes, we have decided that from today the province of Maysan should be without arms,” the prime minister said.
Maliki launched a similar assault against Shiite fighters in the main southern city of Basra in March, which resulted in street battles between the militiamen and security forces in the oil hub and other Shiite regions that left hundreds of people dead.
As part of the proposed assault in Maysan, Iraqi and US forces began pouring in the provincial capital of Amara on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq’s win in a World Cup qualifier, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said.
The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack on Saturday as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah.
She told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, said Serwan Shukir, the town’s top administrator.
Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Shukir said, but the officer’s warning had averted a higher casualty toll by preventing the woman from reaching the bulk of the fans.
Police Captain Najib Khourshid said she was about 20m away from the crowd when the blast occurred.
“About 100 people were in the cafe and we went out to celebrate the victory after the match. Minutes later, a big explosion took place near us,” said Salman Hameed, who was wounded in his chest and right hand. “The female bomber has spoiled our joy and celebration.”
Hameed, a Sunni Arab, said five of his Kurdish and Turkomen friends also were wounded in the attack.
Qara Tappah is a mainly Kurdish and Shiite Turkomen city, about 120km northeast of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala Province. The attack followed warnings by US officials that al-Qaeda in Iraq is increasing efforts to recruit women as suicide attackers in a bid to subvert stepped up security measures, particularly in Diyala.
In Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a bus exploded in a Shiite neighborhood, killing two people and wounding eight, police said.
Three other civilians were injured on Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the capital’s Karradah district, police said.
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