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Unrest spreads around Shia Iraq Fresh clashes break out in Basra
(about 5 hours later)
Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shia militants has spread from Basra to other Shia parts of the country including Baghdad's Sadr City. There has been fresh fighting in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, as Iraqi security forces battle Shia militants for a second day.
At least 30 people have been killed since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki vowed on a visit to the southern oil city to "re-impose law". Police and witnesses report heavy clashes in five districts. More than 40 people are said to have died overall.
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has given militants 72 hours to lay down their arms or face penalties.
His campaign to "re-impose law" in the city triggered fighting elsewhere in Iraq, and many towns are under curfew.
In Baghdad's Sadr City, clashes continued overnight and civilians are feared to be among at least 14 people killed.
Unrest in Basra has been stoked by a variety of militias and criminal gangs.Unrest in Basra has been stoked by a variety of militias and criminal gangs.
But the government's unspoken intent is to stop it falling under the sway of the Mehdi Army, a BBC analyst says. But the government's unspoken intent is to stop it falling under the sway of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr, BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says.
Its leader, the radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr, has called on his followers to start a campaign of civil disobedience across the country. Clashes continue
Three Iraqi army brigades have been sent from Baghdad to Basra and up to 15,000 troops could be involved. After an overnight lull, the fighting erupted anew in Basra on Wednesday.
Some of the fiercest fighting in the operation dubbed Charge of the Knights has focused on Mehdi Army strongholds.
Police curfews have been imposed in Basra, Kut, Samawa, Nasiriyah, Hilla and Diwaniyah.
'Stiff resistance'
Columns of smoke hung across Basra and coalition jets prowled the skies on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Maliki made a brave decision Dana PerinoWhite House spokeswoman In pictures: Iraq unrestShia strife threatens IraqWhat is the Mehdi Army?Prime Minister Maliki made a brave decision Dana PerinoWhite House spokeswoman In pictures: Iraq unrestShia strife threatens IraqWhat is the Mehdi Army?
Security forces kept journalists away from areas where heavy fighting appeared to be under way and correspondents say it was unclear by nightfall who had the upper hand. The AFP news agency quoted witnesses in Basra as saying the fighting was concentrated on the districts of Gazaiza, Garma, Khmasamene, Hayania and Maqal.
Col Karim al-Zaidi, a spokesman for the Iraq military, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying security forces had met stiff resistance from Mehdi Army gunmen in the city centre. Health and military officials now say more than 40 people have been killed in the fighting, and more than 100 hurt. It is unclear how many are militants, soldiers and civilians.
Reuters Television pictures showed gunmen firing mortars in the street while others, the agency said, drove around in captured Iraqi army and police vehicles. Reports suggest that the fighting is not on the same scale on Tuesday but, where there was no fighting, Basra's streets remained deserted even after the night curfew ended at 0600 (0300 GMT).
In Baghdad, rockets hit the Green Zone but there were no immediate reports of casualties. In Sadr City, a vast Shia suburb in the capital, there were overnight clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and American and Iraqi soldiers.
US and Iraqi troops sealed off Baghdad's Sadr City as fighting raged inside. Moqtada Sadr has threatened "general civil disobedience"
As well at least 14 deaths, at least 100 people have been injured, according to a medical source and an official at Iraq's interior ministry.
Here and in other Shia areas of Iraq, many shops and offices are shuttered, indicating many people are following Moqtada Sadr's call for a campaign of civil disobedience.
As well as Basra, police curfews have been imposed in Kut, Samawa, Nasiriya, Hilla and Diwaniya.
'Stiff resistance'
Reporters were kept away from areas of heavy fighting in Basra on Tuesday, and it was unclear who had the upper hand.
In a statement, Mr Maliki gave militants a 72-hour deadline to lay down their arms - or face "the most severe penalties", Reuters news agency reported.
The Basra operation is being personally led by Mr Maliki, a fact hailed by Washington.The Basra operation is being personally led by Mr Maliki, a fact hailed by Washington.
"Prime Minister Maliki made a brave decision to go into a very difficult situation where you have terrorists and insurgents that have infested the area, and he's taken his forces down there and are working with them," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "Prime Minister Maliki made a brave decision to go into a very difficult situation where you have terrorists and insurgents that have infested the area, and he's taken his forces down there and we are working with them," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
The operation, she insisted, was "Iraqi-led and Iraqi-initiated".The operation, she insisted, was "Iraqi-led and Iraqi-initiated".
High-risk strategy Risk
The crackdown in Basra is fraught with political significance, writes the BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy. Sadrists are convinced it is an attempt to weaken them ahead of provincial elections due in October, says BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy.
Sadrists are convinced it is an attempt to weaken them ahead of provincial elections due in October - elections they are confident will strengthen their grip on the south. But Mr Maliki has embarked on a highly risky strategy, he says.
Mr Maliki has embarked on a highly risky strategy, our analyst notes.
For one thing, it is far from clear that it will succeed.For one thing, it is far from clear that it will succeed.
The Sadrist movement enjoys widespread support, especially among the young and the poor, and is well entrenched in Basra and many other predominantly Shia towns and cities in the south.The Sadrist movement enjoys widespread support, especially among the young and the poor, and is well entrenched in Basra and many other predominantly Shia towns and cities in the south.
For another, if the ceasefire which the Sadrists have largely followed since last summer were to collapse, that would seriously undermine claims by the government - and by the Bush administration in Washington - that Iraq had somehow turned a corner and was moving from civil war to political reconciliation.For another, if the ceasefire which the Sadrists have largely followed since last summer were to collapse, that would seriously undermine claims by the government - and by the Bush administration in Washington - that Iraq had somehow turned a corner and was moving from civil war to political reconciliation.
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