Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday promised to pursue his fight against Shiite militias in Basra to "the end." Al-Maliki made his pledge to Basra area tribal leaders Thursday as military operations against the militias continued for a fourth day despite stiff resistance.
According to the AP, Al-Maliki told the leaders "we have made up our minds" to enter the fight "and we will continue until the end. No retreat."
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Shiites took to Baghdad's streets to protest the government crackdown in Basra. Iraqi officials reported 17 more people killed in overnight clashes in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City and raised the number of deaths from fighting in the southern city of Hillah to at least 60.
Demonstrators in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah called al-Maliki a "new dictator" as they carried a coffin bearing a crossed-out picture of the U.S.-backed prime minister. A sea of people also rallied in Sadr City, chanting slogans against the government and in favor of Muqtada al-Sadr amid rising fears that the cleric's cease-fire order to his Mahdi Army militia is unraveling.
Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, issued a statement with demands to quell the discontent, including the release of Sadrist detainees, an end to military operations against them and al-Maliki's resignation.
The violence also was raising concerns about Iraq's oil industry since Basra accounts for most of the country's exports. A bomb struck an oil pipeline Thursday in Basra, a local oil official said. Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, however, sought to assure international oil companies.
"The security situation in Basra is still unstable ... but this has not reflected negatively works at oil output and export installations," al-Shahristani told the U.S.-funded Radio Sawa.
In other violence reported by police, a booby-trapped car exploded near the Iraqi Red Crescent Society's offices in Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding five. Gunmen also killed a U.S.-allied Sunni fighter and wounded his wife and daughter after storming his house in the northern city of Samarra late Wednesday.
In addition, two American soldiers were also killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, the military said.
