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50 killed in Iraq violence

Shia militants clash with army

BAGHDAD: A surge in bloodshed on Monday left about 50 persons dead in a suicide car bombing and clashes between Shia militia and Iraqi security forces on Monday, in a brutal contradiction of the Prime Minister's claim that violence was decreasing.

The deaths followed a day of bombings and shootings on Sunday, when more than 60 persons were killed across the country, from the northern city of Kirkuk to the capital Baghdad and down to the south in Basra.

Raid to seize weapons

In the city of Diwaniyah, gunbattles between Iraqi forces and militiamen of the Mehdi Army loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left at least 34 persons dead and about 70 wounded, Iraqi officials said.

The fighting broke out late on Sunday night when Iraqi soldiers conducted raids in three neighbourhoods to flush out the militiamen and seize weapons, said army Capt. Fatik Aied.

He said the fighting continued on Monday.

Dr. Mohammed Abdul-Muhsen of the city's general hospital said 34 bodies were brought in — 25 Iraqi soldiers, seven civilians and two militiamen. He said at least 70 persons were injured, but could not immediately give a breakdown.

Capt. Aied said the militiamen were using rocket propelled grenades and automatic assault rifles. At least 10 militiamen had been arrested, he said.

Diwaniyah, 130 km south of Baghdad, is a Shia dominated city where the influence of Mehdi Army has been gradually increasing. It already runs a virtual parallel government in Sadr City, a slum in eastern Baghdad.

But the Government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shia, has found it difficult to rein in al-Sadr, whose movement holds 30 of the 275 seats in Parliament and five Cabinet posts.

Mr. Al-Sadr's backing also helped Mr. al-Maliki win the top job during painstaking negotiations within the Shia alliance that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Mr. Al-Sadr mounted two major uprisings against the American-led coalition in 2004 when U.S. authorities closed his newspaper and pushed an Iraqi judge into issuing an arrest warrant against him.

But American forces have also been wary of confronting the Mehdi Army because of Mr. Al-Sadr's clout over the Government and his large following among Shias, who are in a majority in Iraq.

In Baghdad, a car suicide bomber slammed into a police checkpoint outside the Interior Ministry in midmorning Monday, when traffic is usually heavy. The blast could be heard 2 km away.

The blast killed 16 persons, including 10 policemen, police said. Elsewhere in the capital, a roadside bomb in the mainly Sunni western neighbourhood of Jihad struck a car transporting five barber shop workers killing one person. — AP

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