Iraqi forces and militia clash, leading to at least 25 arrests

A relative held a picture of Munther Khalaf, coach of the al-Kharkh soccer team, during his funeral yesterday in Baghdad. Khalaf, a former star player, was slain by gunmen Thursday in front of his home in the capital. (Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press)

KUT, Iraq - Police arrested at least 25 members of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia yesterday, a day after two police officers were killed in gun battles in the southern city of Kut, police said.

Police say at least 13 people have been killed in fighting in Kut since Tuesday.

The clashes between Iraqi security forces and the militia in Kut, 105 miles southeast of Baghdad, have raised fears a cease-fire called by Sadr may unravel, although the violence has so far been confined to Kut.

It is the first major violation of the seven-month-old truce, which the US military has credited with helping to reduce violence between majority Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Sadr clarified the conditions of the truce last week, telling followers they could defend themselves if attacked, an apparent response to complaints among his fighters that US and Iraqi forces were exploiting the cease-fire to target them.

"This operation started in the early morning and so far we have arrested 25 wanted people from the Mahdi Army," said Lieutenant Aziz al-Amara, who commands a rapid reaction unit.

Separately, the US military said eight Iraqi civilians were wounded in a rocket attack on a US facility in Hilla, 60 miles south of Baghdad, late Friday. Iraqi police blamed the attack on an unspecified Shi'ite militia.

Hilla police chief Brigadier General Fadhil al-Sultani said a suspect had been arrested after the attack, which damaged three homes and a school.

The latest outbreak of violence in Kut took place Friday night when police tried to enter two neighborhoods in Kut where there is a strong Mahdi Army presence. Amara said two police officers were killed and eight wounded Friday, six of whom were in a serious condition.

A mortar attack early yesterday wounded six people, including three members of the same family, Kut police said.

In a separate development yesterday, the United Nation envoy to Baghdad said Iraq's leaders have not done enough to match security gains with political progress and better provision of basic services.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said even though there had been an increase in violence in recent months, security was much better than when Iraq teetered on the brink of all-out sectarian civil war after the 2006 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine.

"In spite of this spike of horrific spectacular acts there is still a lot of improvement compared to the past, which should be interpreted by all of us and by the Iraqi political leaders as an opportunity," de Mistura said at a press conference on the latest UN Human Rights Report on Iraq.

Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, when a build-up of 30,000 extra US troops was completed.

The growth of mainly Sunni Arab neighborhood security units and the cease-fire ordered by Sadr have also contributed to security gains, US and Iraqi leaders have said.

Like Washington, de Mistura said improved security gave Iraq's leaders the chance to make political headway on measures to promote reconciliation between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

"There has been some improvement. . . . But this is not enough," he said, adding that his concerns were shared by US officials in Iraq.

Iraq has made some progress on benchmark reconciliation legislation, with Parliament last month passing the 2008 budget, an amnesty law that would free thousands of mainly Sunni Arab prisoners from Iraq's jail, and a provincial powers law.

But the provincial powers law has been sent back to Parliament for review, and lawmakers remain deadlocked on a revenue-sharing oil law and other issues.