Baghdad's military command has extended a round-the clock curfew in the city for an indefinite period.
Baghdad's military command has renewed a round-the clock curfew indefinitely as the government continues a crackdown on Shia militias it began on Tuesday.
It was imposed on Thursday amid clashes between troops and Shia militias in Baghdad and elsewhere, and had been due to expire early on Sunday morning.
The curfew had been due to expire early on Sunday morning but fighting is continuing in some city districts.
The extension came hours after radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr said his Mehdi Army militia would defy a government call to lay down its weapons.
Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is defying a government deadline for his Mehdi Army militia to lay down its weapons in return for cash.
Across Iraq, fighting has claimed more than 200 lives since Tuesday.
Across Iraq, the fighting has claimed more than 240 lives since Tuesday.
The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad says the curfew extension will damage the capital economically, as well as inconveniencing residents.
Despite the continued curfew, some Baghdad residents are rushing to markets to stock up on goods with the price of vegetables doubling in some areas, the BBC's Crispin Thorold reports from the city.
The initial imposition of the curfew was a sign of how badly security in Baghdad had deteriorated, he says.
But it is feared the curfew extension will damage the capital economically, as well as inconveniencing residents, he says.
Baghdad, particularly the Shia-dominated Sadr City area in the east of the city, has seen some of the worst violence in recent days, including a series of US air strikes on Friday.
Air strikes
Air strikes
The curfew extension came after a day of skirmishes between security forces and Shia militiamen in the southern city of Basra, where the current wave of unrest began.
Clashes have continued in some Shia parts of Baghdad.
Fierce gun battles were reported, while the UK military said US warplanes carried out two air strikes.
Iraqi soldiers have met fierce resistance in BasraHowever, it appears that violence in the southern city of Basra, the original focus of the government clampdown on the militias, is not on the same scale as previous days, our correspondent adds.
Iraqi police said an earlier US air strike killed eight people, although no independent confirmation was available.
The curfew extension came after a day of skirmishes between security forces and Shia militiamen in the southern city of Basra.
Coalition forces have become more involved with US air raids in Baghdad and Basra in recent days, and the US military says its special forces have been on the ground in Basra, providing support to their Iraqi counterparts.
British forces in the city fired artillery rounds on what they said were militia mortar positions - the first time they had directly joined the fighting since government forces launched the operation in Basra.
British artillery in Basra fired on suspected militia mortar positions on Saturday - the first time they have directly joined the government clampdown.
Iraqi forces have been trying to wrest control of the city and other Shia areas from the Mehdi Army.
'Legitimate resistance'
In an interview, Moqtada Sadr said he would ignore the call by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, for his forces to surrender their weapons.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has given militias until 8 April to hand in their weapons in return for cash.
He said they would only be handed over to a government which could get the occupying forces out of Iraq.
Foreign news crews recorded an arms handover in Sadr CityHe vowed troops would not leave Basra until security was restored and described gunmen there as "worse than al-Qaeda".
Mr Maliki has extended an original three-day deadline, telling the fighters they had until 8 April to hand in their weapons in return for cash.
But Moqtada Sadr has said arms will only be surrendered to a government committed to ejecting US-led foreign forces from Iraq.
On Saturday the prime minister vowed that government troops will not leave Basra until "security is restored", describing the gunmen as "worse than al-Qaeda".
Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV,, he urged Muslim states and the UN to recognise the "legitimacy of resistance" and back Iraq in driving out "the occupation forces".
Iraqi soldiers have met fierce resistance in Basra"We will continue to stand up to these gangs in every inch of Iraq," he said.
Some apparent members of the Iraqi security forces defected to his side on Saturday, handing in their weapons to one of his offices in Baghdad's Sadr City suburb.
Meanwhile Al-Jazeera TV broadcast excerpts from an exclusive interview with Moqtada Sadr that it conducted hours before the beginning of the clashes on Tuesday.
"We can't fight our brothers in the Mehdi Army," one of them said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mr Sadr called on Arab and Muslims states and the UN to "recognise the legitimacy of resistance" and offer support to Iraqi to "drive the occupation forces out of its land".
Mr Sadr's followers have in the past rebelled against the US-backed government, although the cleric's political bloc has backed Mr Maliki's ruling coalition.
Power struggle
Casualties mount
Estimates vary of the number of deaths since the fighting broke out.
Estimates vary of the number of deaths since the fighting broke out.
Health officials in Baghdad say at least 75 people have been killed while in Basra, the British military give a death toll of 50.
Fighting in Baghdad has left 117 people dead over the past three days, Iraqi police told the BBC.
However, Basra medical sources report as many as 290 dead and an Iraqi army commander, Maj-Gen Ali Zaidan, said on Friday his forces had killed 120 "enemy" fighters there. He did not give casualty figures for his own soldiers.
In Basra, the British military have given a death toll of 50 but local medical sources report as many as 290 dead and the Iraqi army has reported killing 120 "enemy" fighters there.
Scores of people are believed to have been killed in other southern cities, according to Iraqi police or medical reports.
Scores of people are believed to have been killed in other southern cities, according to Iraqi police or medical reports.
At least 44 people were killed in and around Kut, 15 in Nasiriya, 12 in Karbala and six in Hilla.
At least 44 people were killed in and around Kut, 15 in Nasiriya, 12 in Karbala and six in Hilla.
The fighting is blamed on a power struggle between rival Shia factions.
Moqtada Sadr's followers have in the past rebelled against the US-backed government, although the cleric's political bloc has backed Mr Maliki's ruling coalition.
A ceasefire by the Mehdi Army, in place since August 2007 and renewed in February, has been widely credited with reducing sectarian tensions and contributing to the recent overall drop in violence.
Correspondents say Moqtada Sadr's supporters fear the prime minister - also a Shia - wishes to weaken their movement before local elections due later this year.
In separate developments on Saturday:
Two US soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad, the US military said
Turkey said it had killed 15 Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq in cross-border shelling on Thursday, and carried out air strikes in the area on Friday.
