Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Basra, Jan 19, (VOI) – Some 97 civilians, security forces and gunmen were killed and 217 others wounded in clashes that erupted in central Basra between gunmen the extremist Shiite organization Soldiers of Heaven and security forces in the province, a high-level security official in the Basra intelligence department said on Saturday.

“The clashes, which broke out on Friday, left 17 civilians and security forces killed and 117 others wounded while 80 members of the self-styled Soldiers of Heaven were killed and more than 100 others arrested in several areas in Basra,” the source, who preferred not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

“This count of casualties was all that was obtained by the department until Saturday noon,” the source said, adding “three vehicles, including to Hummers, belonging to the Iraqi army were destroyed in clashes.”

Friday witnessed the outbreak of confrontations between Iraqi forces and Soldiers of Heaven gunmen, the most violent in the city since the Iraqi forces received security responsibilities in Basra four months ago. The clashes coincided with Shiite Muslims’ celebrations of the Ashuraa, or the 10th of Muharram on the Hegira calendar.

Soldiers of Heaven is an extremist religious organization that had clashed with Iraqi security forces in the area of al-Zarka, near Najaf province, in late 2006.

The group was accused of attempting to control Najaf and kill clerics there as a prelude to control all Iraqi cities. The clashes also coincided with the Ashuraa pilgrimage.

Security forces then launched a preemptive strike against members of the group, killing more than 250 gunmen of them and capturing hundreds others as announced by official sources during that time.

An official source in the Basra police said security forces killed on Friday the leader of this group and annihilated and captured dozens members in clashes in central Basra while other forces destroyed their headquarters.

Earlier on Saturday an official police source said clashes broke out in central Basra for the second day running between the group and security forces with no casualties reported.

Friday’s clashes coincided with others in al-Nassiriya city, southern Iraq, between an ultra-religious group calling itself Ansar Ahmad al-Yamani, or Supporters of Ahmad al-Yamani, and security forces. The clashes left 150 people, including a number of security commanders, killed or wounded.
Supporters of Ahmad al-Yamani is a strict religious organization whose members, active in some southern provinces like Basra, Nassiriya and Missan, believe that Yamani is one of the ambassadors of Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th Messiah-like holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.
Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad while al-Nassiriya, the capital of Zhi Qar province, lies 380 km south of Baghdad.