BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi security forces began to move into the southern city of Amarah on Saturday, and locals braced for the latest government offensive against the Mahdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Amarah, the capital of Maysan province, is one of the dwindling bastions of the al-Sadr movement in Iraq. The cleric’s followers control the governing council, and its militia is dominant in the streets.
Western officials think that many hard-core fighters associated with the Mahdi Army fled to the province from Basra after the government waged a campaign against what it called lawlessness in the southern port in late March.
The March campaign was heralded as a drive by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to try to assert his authority in the country, which has suffered from sectarian war and other violence in the past five years.
A military officer with the U.S.-led coalition, who declined to give his name, confirmed Saturday that Iraqi operations in Basra province were spreading into Maysan.
A local official in Amarah said troops were moving in.
“Now there is Iraqi army deployment in the city and main crossroads,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. “The main goals of the operation will be to go after the wanted individuals involved in various crimes, disarm the city (and) activate the rule of law.”
Late Saturday, state television channel Iraqi announced that al-Maliki had given a Wednesday deadline for residents to hand in their explosives and larger weapons.
Residents said that fliers had been dropped from aircraft warning them of an imminent military campaign and urging them to stay out of the way.
