Iraqi troops clash with militias in Basra

Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militias in the southern oil port of Basra today as a security plan to clamp down on violence between rival militia factions in the region began.

With tensions rising, Muqtada al-Sadr’s headquarters in Najaf ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on high alert and prepare “to strike the occupiers” and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said.