Iraqi casualties at highest level since August

[tekisui]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in the country to their highest level in more than six months, government figures showed on Tuesday.

A total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007, according to data compiled by Iraq's interior, defense and health ministries and obtained by Reuters.

The figures will be a blow to the Iraqi government and the United States, which have pointed to reduced overall levels of violence in recent months as evidence that a major security offensive has made significant progress.

Hundreds of people were killed and many more wounded in last week's fighting after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shi'ite militiamen in the southern city of Basra. Many of the dead were civilians caught in the crossfire.

Basra was relatively calm for a second straight day on Tuesday after Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called his fighters off the streets on Sunday.

A Reuters reporter in Basra said more shops had opened for business and streets were filling up with residents and cars. But many schools and government offices remained closed.

The crackdown exposed a deep rift within Iraq's Shi'ite majority -- between the political parties in Maliki's government and followers of the populist cleric Sadr.

link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040100400.html