Iraqi raids anger Shiite militia
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki supervises fighting in Basra
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The political movement of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has launched a nationwide civil disobedience campaign across Iraq to protest raids and detentions against the group.
Tuesday's move came amid fierce fighting between Iraqi security forces and al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia in the southern city of Basra, where at least 12 people have died and 32 others were wounded. Similar clashes also erupted in several of Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods.
The discord also threatens to unravel a much-praised suspension over the summer of Mehdi Army militia activity, and its collapse could spark renewed sectarian violence and prompt the United States to delay any troop withdrawals.
The U.S. military says the cease-fire has led to a decrease of sectarian violence in Iraq, but the Americans and the Iraqi Army have continued to target Mehdi Army followers who have ignored the agreement. Read analysis on what the battle means
The Sadrist movement, however, believes troops have unfairly targeted militia members, and two days ago, tribal leaders affiliated with the movement came up with three demands for Iraqi government authorities: a halt in raids, the release of detainees and an apology.
But Nassar al-Rubaie, an al-Sadr official, told reporters on Tuesday that those demands were not met, prompting the group to call for civil disobedience, such as closing businesses and staying out of school, as well as street demonstrations. Watch as Sadrists call for protests ยป
"We call all citizens to join the civil disobedience," al-Rubaie said.
The movement has been upset lately with military operations targeting militia members, such as recent operations in the southeastern city of Kut, and the arrests of Sadrist movement senior leaders.
Al-Rubaie said government security forces comprise rival militias that have killed, tortured and arrested innocents.
Followers of al-Sadr have also been in the middle of intra-Shiite power struggles in southern Iraqi towns.
In Basra, the Sadrists, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, and the Fadhila party have power and influence. Violent rivalries among Shiites have been predicted by many observers ahead of the provincial elections in Iraq, which are to be held by October 1.
Al-Rubaie tied the violence against the Sadrists to the provincial elections runup.
"The police and army forces are used for political reasons," al-Rubaie said.
In eastern Baghdad, clashes erupted between militia members and Iraqi soldiers in al-Hamza Square at the edge of Sadr City, a Mehdi Army bastion. Fighting then spread to other neighborhoods -- Sadr City, Shaab, Zuhor, Amin, Tobchi and Maamel.
An Interior Ministry official told CNN that gunmen attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint in the Maamel neighborhood of eastern Baghdad, also at the edge of Sadr City, and kidnapped six police officers.
Attackers wielding small arms in Tobchi attacked the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Shiite religious figure, the official said. Iraqi security forces have gained control of the area and the office is under their protection.
In the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Disher, the civil disobedience campaign took hold, with stores closing and protesters taking to the streets. The Interior Ministry said civil disobedience tactics were seen in five Baghdad neighborhoods.
The Mehdi Army members also appeared on the streets of Mahmoudiya and Yusufiya, towns south of Baghdad, in a show of force. And in Kut, local authorities imposed a curfew in light of the fighting in Baghdad and Basra.
There were no immediate details about casualties in Baghdad, and officials and clerics issued calls for calm.
In southern Iraq, security forces were battling Shiite militia members in the oil-rich city of Basra -- and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was personally directing the operation, officials said.
A Basra city council official said the fighting erupted when security forces entered strongholds of the Mehdi Army militia.
Al-Sadr, a powerful and popular figure in Iraq's Shiite communities, in August announced a six-month suspension of Mehdi Army activity that was renewed last month. Many fighters have heeded the cease-fire, which the U.S. military says has helped reduce violence.
Followers of al-Sadr have also been in the middle of intra-Shiite power struggles in southern Iraqi towns. In Basra, the Sadrists, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, and the Fadhila party have power and influence.
Residents of Basra earlier this month demonstrated for better security in the city, an area where kidnappings, murders and thefts have risen since British troops in December handed over responsibility for the province to Iraqi soldiers and police.
Other developments
At least four al Qaeda in Iraq members were killed in volatile Diyala province on Sunday in two military raids, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
One was wounded and eight others were detained in the operations, the latest in ongoing raids across the province -- where U.S. and Iraqi troops have been fighting insurgents, including the largely Sunni al Qaeda in Iraq group.
The military also reported a roadside bombing on Sunday that killed two children and wounded two civilians. It occurred in Khatoon, north of the Diyala provincial capital of Baquba.
Diyala is an ethnically and religiously mixed province that stretches north and east of Baghdad and borders Iran.
The U.S. military also said it had determined that six people killed and two people wounded in an American helicopter strike near Samarra on Saturday were prospective pro-U.S. militia members -- not "terrorists" as previously suspected.
Maj. Bradford Leighton told CNN that the people had been acting suspiciously "but it now appears that they were not doing anything wrong." He said that the strike could have been avoided if a local working to form a pro-U.S. militia group told American troops the men would be in the area.
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