Iraq PM proclaims Basra assaults 'a success' [View All]

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

Iraq PM proclaims Basra assaults 'a success'
by Salam Faraj

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in Basra was a success and that 10,000 extra troops would be recruited to keep order in the southern oil hub.

His statement came as officials said the toll from a military assault the premier ordered on Shiite militias a week ago had helped propel the March tally of Iraqis killed to 1,082, the highest monthly total since August.

Figures obtained by AFP from the interior, defence and health ministries showed that 925 civilians, 54 soldiers and 103 policemen were killed -- up 50 percent on February's figure of 721.

Of the Iraqis killed, around 460 were casualties of a week of bitter fighting between Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr which began in Basra but quickly spread to other Shiite areas of central and southern Iraq and to Baghdad.

Maliki said he had decided to implement a seven-point programme in Basra following "the stability and success of the security plan which achieved the aim of imposing law in the city and restoring normalcy."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080401/wl_afp/iraqunrest