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| Iraq |
| Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra |
| 2008-03-27 |
| Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected, and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen. With the threat of a civil war looming in the south, Nouri al-Maliki’s police chief in Basra narrowly escaped assassination in the crucial port city, while in Baghdad, the spokesman for the Iraqi side of the US military surge was kidnapped by gunmen and his house burnt to the ground. Saboteurs also blew up one of Iraq's two main oil pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the city which provides 80 per cent of government revenue, a clear sign that the militias — who siphon significant sums off the oil smuggling trade — would not stop at mere insurrection. In Baghdad, thick black smoke hung over the city centre tonight and gunfire echoed across the city. The most secure area of the capital, Karrada, was placed under curfew amid fears the Mahdi Army of Hojetoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr could launch an assault on the residence of Abdelaziz al-Hakim, the head of a powerful rival Shia governing party. While the Mahdi Army has not officially renounced its six-month ceasefire, which has been a key component in the recent security gains, on the ground its fighters were chasing police and soldiers from their positions across Baghdad. Rockets from Sadr City slammed into the governmental Green Zone compound in the city centre, killing one person and wounding several more. Mr al-Maliki has gambled everything on the success of Operation Saulat al-Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, to sweep illegal militias out of Basra. It has targeted neighbourhoods where the Mahdi Army dominates, prompting intense fighting with mortars, rocket-grenades and machineguns in the narrow, fetid alleyways of Basra. In Baghdad, the Mahdi Army took over neighbourhood after neighbourhood, some amid heavy fighting, others without firing a shot. In New Baghdad, militiamen simply ordered the police to leave their checkpoints: the officers complied en masse and the guerrillas stepped out of the shadows to take over their checkpoints. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Those f*cking douche bags couldn't fight a classroom full of kids. What the hell is wrong with those clowns, they didn't last a week and most never fired a shot. |
| Posted by: Snakes Flearong1859 2008-03-27 22:33 |
| #7 Is this Maliki's personal touch he was talking about the other day? Seriously, it is way too soon to take heed from way too slanted a report as this (the writer sounds like a martini is about to be spilled from the scribbling). Maliki gave them 72 hours to disarm, this is their response...So game on. Of course this was going to happen, the tots have had plently of time to prepare for an action like this. And the msm is going to try to sensationalize this for the d prosperiety and that they have spent so much time putting the sadr boogyman story together. Now the bad guys are out in the open, itching to fight - get'em, and no more hudnas. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-03-27 21:49 |
| #6 Why would anyone take over a checkpoint ? Isn't that like sitting waiting for the missle impact ? |
| Posted by: wxjames 2008-03-27 21:11 |
| #5 I thought I recognized the storyline.. /s |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-03-27 17:19 |
| #4 Obviously a Huge Disaster for the American and The war is lost - we better go home with our tails between our legs... |
| Posted by: Walter Cronkite 2008-03-27 15:33 |
| #3 Oh no we are all going to die! I'll wait for some reports from someone other than the Times Online. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-03-27 15:29 |
| #2 Curious. The reports from the military have repeatedly reports less fighting, less killed, and less damage. Can anyone say "Tet"? The papers obviously would like to. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2008-03-27 15:28 |
| #1 we'll see how long this lasts |
| Posted by: legolas 2008-03-27 15:27 |