Home
Iraqi PM warns militants to lay down their arms
South East Asia News.Net
Wednesday 26th March, 2008
Clashes between Iraqi security forces and Shia fighters in Iraq's southern city of Basra raged Wednesday for the second day as unrest spread to other Shia cities and parts of Baghdad.
Heavy fighting broke out in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, as Iraqi ground forces backed by US air and ground support launched a large-scale operation Tuesday to break the grip of Shia militias and criminal gangs controlling the city.
Nearly 30,000 Iraqi army and police forces are involved in the operation, which is directed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is the general commander of the armed forces.
Mr Maliki has warned militants in the country's south the will face severe penalties if they don't lay down their arms before the weekend.
Iraq's prime minister made his comments as he continued to oversee the second day of a military operation against Shia militants in the southern port city of Basra.
While he did not specify what the penalties would be for those who continued to fight, he is likely to call in more US support troops who have already clashed with activists in the city, about 120 kilometres south of Baghdad.
Medical sources said at least 40 people had been killed in Basra in the past day of fighting between government military forces and the Mehdi Army militia which is loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Fighting between Shia militants and Iraqi forces also spread to the capital Baghdad, where 20 people have been killed in the district of Sadr City.
 Email this story to a friend
Comments on this story
Anonymous
03-27-08, 01:19 PM |
Iraqi PM warns militants to lay down their arms
It is sad to see how even this news media is controlled. We call the groups that have lived in those parts and supported by the majority of their population, criminal gangs, terrorists, and other obscene adjectives, when in reality this fight is about taking their oil from them and putting it under our control, of course with the Iraqi government as our front. The problem is that all the lies and obstruction of the truth only convinces our people, but not the rest of the world that is watching our true realities.
|
Have your say on this story
|
 |
 |
- Queensland premier's son to pursue 'Bollywood dreams'
Sydney, May 9 (IANS) Queensland Premier Anna Bligh's 20-year-old son, Joe, will be heading to Mumbai this June to pursue film and television studies at a Bollywood studio. [read story]
- Kin of dead Karachi Hindus await visas for immersing ashes in Ganges
Karachi, May 9 : For years together, pots containing ashes of the late Hindus have been kept at a catalogue room inside the library at the Gujjar Hindu Community Burial and Cremation Ground in Karachi, to be immersed in the holy Ganges (in India), but the Pakistan government has not yet granted visas for their transit to India. [read story]
- Divergent views on challenging umpire's decision
Sydney, May 9 (IANS) Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has welcomed the International Cricket Council's (ICC) plan to allow the players to challenge umpiring decisions in Test cricket. [read story]
- Haneef lawyers appeal for release of immigration documents
Sydney, May 9 (IANS) Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef's case has taken yet another turn with the Immigration Department refusing to release documents and his lawyers appealing against it. [read story]
- PPP may propose judges restoration through Prez Ordinance
Lahore, May 9 : In order to break the deadlock over the restoration of judges issue, the PPP is learnt to have coined up a proposal to reinstate the judges through a Presidential Ordinance after passage of the proposed resolution by the National Assembly. [read story]
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
