Region | Iraq
Al Sadr militia is going underground say Iraqi officials
The Mahdi Army, the staunchly anti-American militia currently on the run after successive Iraqi military campaign to dismantle its network, is increasingly going underground, Iraqi intelligence officials told Gulf News.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 15:31 June 25, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
Baghdad: The Mahdi Army, the staunchly anti-American militia currently on the run after successive Iraqi military campaign to dismantle its network, is increasingly going underground, Iraqi intelligence officials told Gulf News.
The Mahdi Army, considered the military wing of the Sadrist Movement that is led by Shiite young leader Moqtada Al Sadr, is "turning itself into a secret armed organisation," said the officials, quoting a report prepared by the Intelligence Directorate in the Iraqi Army. They spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of the report.
The development, they said, follows military campaigns ordered by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki in east Baghdad and the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan.
According to the report, "More than two thousand cadres from the Mahdi Army were killed recently. This led to the almost complete collapse of this army," which was founded by the anti-US young cleric Moqtada in 2004.
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