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| Iraq |
| Soldiers control Amara as clashes spread |
| 2006-10-22 |
| AMARA - Troops deployed to quell trouble on the streets of Amara on Saturday as the uneasy balance of power between Iraq’s security forces and Shiite militias threatened to break down in violence. Government negotiators managed to broker a ceasefire in this southern city, restoring order after two days of bloodshed, but more clashes erupted further north as informal gangs of gunmen tested the government’s resolve. “The Iraqi army is on the main streets and intersections,” said Shirwan Al Waili, Iraq’s minister of state for national security, who rushed to Amara on Friday on the orders of Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki. “The police are back in their barracks and there are no militia on the streets,” he told reporters in the city. The medical director of Amara’s health department, Zamil Al Oreibi, told AFP that a total of 24 people had been killed in the fighting and 150 wounded, a mixture of police, militia and civilian bystanders. Armed militiamen left the streets overnight, troops deployed in numbers and life was slowly returning to normal in this overwhelmingly Shiite city of around 350,000 people. British military spokesman Major Charlie Burbridge said 2,300 Iraqi army troops had deployed in Amara, with 700 more waiting just outside town, and confirmed that the police had returned to barracks. “The situation is definitely calm, but it’s very tense. We suspect that there is a capacity for it to brew up again without any warning,” he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Only yesterday, the militias were claiming total control of Amara, and challenging outsiders. They were also threatening Basra and UK troops. Now Iraq security forces hold the city. The terrorists talk the talk; they can't walk the walk. |
| Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 2006-10-22 06:04 |