Mahdi Army takes a hit in Baghdad, Basrah
Eighteen Mahdi Army fighters killed in Baghdad since May 3. Iraqi forces clear another Basrah neighborhood.
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Baghdad police show progress, but challenges remain
Bill Ardolino interviews an Iraqi Police general in the Rusafa district in central Baghdad. The general discusses the state of the police, the security situation, integration of the Sons of Iraq into the security forces, and problems with the militias.
Lebanon
Jumblatt: Expel Iranian ambassador from Lebanon
Israel
MI6 chief visits Mossad for talks on Iran’s nuclear threat
GMLRS strike knocks out Special Groups command center in Sadr City
Special Groups command and control center positioned near the Sadr Hospital destroyed in guided rocket attack. US, Iraqi troops kill 14 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad as an Iraqi delegation confronts Iran over arming militias.
Iraqis begin to ‘despise’ the Mahdi Army in Baghdad’s Rusafa district
Bill Ardolino is embedded with the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment in the Rusafa district in central Baghdad, where Iraqi Shiites are turning on the Mahdi Army.
Sadr City barrier ‘a magnet’ for Mahdi Army attacks
The large majority of the direct attacks on US and Iraqi forces by the Mahdi Army are occurring on Qods Street, where the barrier is being erected to separate the Iraqi Army and US controlled sections of Sadr City from the northern portion of the district.
Iraq
The Iraqi government has sent a delegation to confront Iran over its support for Shia terrorists. US troops killed 27 Mahdi Army fighters and one Special Groups leader in Sadr City. Twenty-three civilians were killed and 60 wounded in a dual suicide attack in Balad Ruz in Diyala province. Iraqi police and US forces killed […]
US troops kill 28 Mahdi fighters in Sadr City
Clashes continue as Mahdi Army attempts to stop US forces from completing the barrier to seal off the southern portion of Sadr City. The US and Iraq military are building up forces in and around Sadr City.
Iraq
Iraqi Shiite MPs in Iran for talks with Sadr to end clashes
Clashes ongoing in Sadr City
Seven Mahdi fighters killed in airstrikes. Mahdi Army attacks a police patrol and mortars the International Zone. Iraqi general links weapons back to Iran.
Maliki offers Sadr an out: disarm the Mahdi Army
Mahdi Army must disarm, turn in wanted members, and cease opposing the state. Clearing continues in Basrah; Iraqi troops kill five Mahdi Army fighters transporting weapons in northern Baghdad.
US, Iraqi forces engage Mahdi Army in Baghdad, Rashidiyah, Hussaniyah
Sixteen Mahdi Army fighters killed, five captured during a series of raids and clashes. The US military admits the Mahdi Army and the Special Groups are often one in the same.
Iraq
Iraq: Up to 100 al-Qaeda leaders in Iran, says government
Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda No. 2 says 9/11 theory propagated by Iran
Sadr threatens new uprising; Iraqi and US forces press attack
Sadr threatens to end his cease-fire as Iraqi security forces and US troops press the offensive. Iraqi soldiers and special police respond to an ambush in force and captured 40 members of the Special Groups at a Sadrist office. Twenty-seven Mahdi Army fighters were killed in Baghdad over last 24 hours.
Afghanistan
An Afghan child was killed and two others injured during an insurgent rocket attack near an army base in eastern Kunar province. Afghan soldiers killed four Taliban in Kandahar after thwarting an ambush against their convoy in the Panjwai district. Iranian and Afghan border forces clashed in southwestern Nimroz province after the Iranian patrol entered […]
Iraqi troops advance against Mahdi Army in Basrah
The Iraqi Army clears the Mahdi Army-controlled Hayaniyah neighborhood in Basrah. The Sadrists are leaving a government-owned building after receiving an ultimatum by the military.
Iraq
Iraqi troops captured 35 “wanted men” during sweeps in Basrah. Iraqi troops have surrounded a Sadrist office in Basrah. Border troops prevented 164 German and Italian-made mines from being smuggled into the country from Iran. US troops captured a Special Groups cell leader in Baghdad’s Rashid district. Coalition forces detained 12 al Qaeda operatives during […]
Sadrists vow to keep the Mahdi Army
A Sadrist member of parliament said the Mahdi Army would keep its weapons unless the members were ordered to disband by senior Shia leaders. Sistani has said only Sadr can order the Mahdi Army to disarm.
Iraqi, US troops press forward against the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and Basrah
Clashes continue in Sadr City; Iraqi Army works to clear Mahdi Army strongholds in Basrah.
Israel
Iran says it will eliminate Israel if it attacks
When Sons of Iraq grow up
Transitioning the Sons of Iraq from a local security force to a public works program is one of the goals for 2008. The process has begun in Hawr Rajab at the “Village of Hope.”
Somalia
Shabaab fighters captured the town of Beletwein, the capital of Hiran province, as the provincial governor fled with troops. Shabaab then attacked a school and killed two British passport holders and two Kenyans. Ethiopian and Islamic Courts fighters fought pitched battled in Hiran on Sunday.
Iraqi government: “We will continue until we secure Sadr City”
Iraq’s spokesman said the military will press operations in the Mahdi Army stronghold in Baghdad. The Iraqi cabinet has approved the bill that will prevent political parties from contesting elections if they have a militia; the bill has gone to parliament for approval.
US, Iraqi troops prepare the battlefield in Sadr City
US and Iraqi troops are maneuvering to wrest Sadr City from the grip of the Mahdi Army as Sadrist leaders are expressing concern that their power is weakening. Operations continue in Basrah.
Fighting erupts in Sadr City after Sadr aide killed
US and Iraqi forces confirm killing 13 Mahdi Army fighters and “multiple others” in Sadr City after Sadr’s brother-in-law was killed in a drive-by shooting in Najaf.
Afghanistan
A clash in Helmand province left one police officer and four Taliban dead. A Coalition airstrike in Zabul killed three Taliban while they traveled on motorcycles. A woman and a child from a nomadic tribe who had pitched their tents nearby were injured in the strike. Iranian security forces shot and killed 13 Afghan refugees […]
Clashes continue in Baghdad, Basrah
Sadr cancels demonstration in Baghdad, claims Shia clerics instructed him not to disband the Mahdi Army. Iraqi and US forces continue to strike at the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed terror groups in Baghdad and Basrah.
Somalia
Ethiopia is deploying 14,000 troops into Somalia after Shabaab fighters have taken over towns throughout the country. A Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the complex housing peacekeepers from Burundi; one soldier was wounded. Six people were killed in an IED attack in Hiran.