Well there goes the success of the surge!

Must be running low, gotta call in the genocide crew to help wit ze pezky Amerikans!

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Maliki offers Sadr an out: disarm the Mahdi Army


By Bill RoggioApril 26, 2008 1:29 AM


On the same day Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army, seemingly backed down from threats to call for an uprising against the government, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki issued tough conditions that must be met for the government to end the attacks against the Mahdi Army.

Maliki said the government would halts its operations against the Mahdi Army if the militia turns in its weapons, turns over wanted members, provides the names of those behind recent violence, and agrees to "cease interference in the affairs of the state," The Associated Press reported Friday. Sadr has refused to disarm and disband the Mahdi Army in the past.

Earlier on Friday, Sadr backtracked on a statement made last weekend where he threatened to conduct a third uprising. Sadr said he would strike at US and Coalition forces and not rise up against the Iraqi government. He then threatened the government if it did not eject "militias" from the security forces.

Iraqi Army clashes with Mahdi Army outside Sadr City


Map of Baghdad neighborhoods. Click to view.

Fighting between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US security forces continued throughout Friday. US and Iraqi troops killed 14 Mahdi Army fighters earlier in the day. An additional five Mahdi Army fighters were killed in the Qahira neighborhood just outside of Sadr City.

Mahdi Army fighters fired on an Iraqi Army checkpoint after soldiers stopped their car. The Iraqi soldiers returned fire and ignited "a quantity of ammunitions, rockets, and guns," Voices of Iraq reported. The car exploded, killing all five Mahdi fighters. Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded.

The Qahira neighborhood (number 18 on the map) sits to the southeast of Sadr City. Iraqi and US troops currently control the Ishbilya and Habbibiyah neighborhoods (numbers 26 and 27 on the map) and have walled off these areas to restrict the movement of weapons and supplies. The Mahdi Army has used these neighborhoods to launch mortar and rocket attacks against the International Zone. The Mahdi Army has launched attacks against US and Iraqi forces in an attempt to dislodge them from the neighborhoods.

Clearing continues in Basrah, Sadrists barred from entering city

As the Mahdi Army is targeted in Baghdad, the Iraqi Army is advancing through Basrah as part of Operation Knights' Assault, which was launched one month ago on March 25. Iraqi soldiers have begun to clear the Al Huteen neighborhood.

Al Huteen "had been considered a stronghold for criminal elements of the [Mahdi Army]," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "But, when the soldiers of QRF 1 moved into the city, the local citizens actively welcomed and cooperated with them. The searches themselves turned up several weapons caches including mortar rounds, rocket propelled grenades and launchers, and improvised explosive devices as well as several detainees suspected of criminal activity."

The current clearing operation is lead by the Quick Reaction Force 1 of the 1st Iraqi Army. Quick Reaction Force 1 is the new designation for the 1st Iraqi Army Division, the most experienced unit in the Iraqi military.

The Al Huteen neighborhood is the latest Mahdi Army stronghold tackled by the Iraqi security forces in Basrah. Iraqi troops cleared the Hayaniyah neighborhood last weekend, and the Taymiyyah and Qiblah neighborhoods have been cleared over the past several weeks.

The Iraqi government and military have been emboldened by the success in clearing Mahdi Army strongholds in Basrah. On Friday, the military turned away a delegation from the Sadrist movement as they attempted to enter the city. "The delegation's mission was to evaluate the circumstances in Basra, try to assist and activate the items mentioned in Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's release, stop the bloodshed and to assess the situation on the ground," a member of the Sadrist movement told Voices of Iraq.

Last weekend the military ejected the Sadrist movement from its political offices in central Basrah. Security forces also destroyed a prayer yard used by the Mahdi Army in the Al Hakimiya neighborhood. The political office and prayer yard were built on government-owned properties. Images of Sadr are being torn down from public places.

The Mahdi Army has been relatively quiet in Basrah of late, but it is still attempting to exert itself. An attack on a wedding in central Basrah killed one child and wounded 25 civilians, while a music shop was bombed in a separate incident. Music and CD shops, liquor stores, and schools have reopened since Sadr's religious police have been driven from the streets the past several weeks.

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Hey, there's no link here. It says "click to view", but there's nothing to "click to view". I wanna see that map.

longwarjournal.com

Knock yourself out.

Check out the map of the Iranian rat lines while your there.Maybe you'll learn somethin'

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http://www.longwarjournal.org/maps/2...urhood-sat.pdf

Im feeling generous,plus I know that liberals are lazy.

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Cool map ..thanks.

Oh, and I'm not a liberal.

At least they are unified for something now maybe?

This will be a real test of how powerful Sadr really is. If they can refrain from thier sectarian violence and solely concentrate on coalition forces then we'll have a real bother trying to sort this out.

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I'll tell you this no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too
You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
so my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride.