Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday threatened a countrywide campaign of civil revolt as security forces battled his militiamen in the southern city of Basra.
Fighting raged in areas of Basra controlled by Sadr's Mehdi Army from early morning as troops and police launched a major crackdown on armed groups in the oil hub, considered the nerve center of Iraq's national economy.
At least four people were killed and 18 wounded in the clashes, police Major Abbas Youssef said.
Sadr, in a statement read by his representative Hazam al-Aaraji in the holy city of Najaf, said he would launch protests and a nationwide strike if attacks against members of his movement are not halted.
"If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces," the statement said.
The cleric in August ordered his militia to observe a ceasefire following bloody fighting in the shrine city of Karbala blamed on his fighters.
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 US forces with mortars, rockets and roadside bombs.
British military officials said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Basra to personally oversee the major security force sweep.
Fighting involving mortars, machine guns and assault weapons erupted soon after the security forces entered the Al-Tamiyah neighborhood, a bastion of Sadr's Mehdi Army, at about 5am. The fighting quickly spread to five other Mehdi Army neighborhoods.
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.
In the wake of the fighting police also imposed curfews in three other southern Shiite cities -- Kut, Samawa and Nasiriyah -- as precautionary measures.
Liwa Sumaysim, head of Sadr's political bureau in 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 said. "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."
After touring Basra on Monday, Maliki vowed his government 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.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS