Basra fighting
(What about the sandstorm and how it worked in favor of the militias?) This was for most of Sunday evening and into Monday morning was a huge sandstorm which blocked out the sun, which is normally very bright. It made it difficult for US forces to keep a check on the goings on on the ground and Shiite militiamen took advantage of that and we could hear numerous rockets and mortars fired from Sadr City into the Green Zone. (In terms of the militants, who and why are they fighting? These are Shiites under Moqtada al Sadr who called for a ceasefire on Friday.) That ceasefire was largely ignored and it’s difficult to work out exactly what control Sadr has. Sadr did put out a call for ceasefire on Friday, but there might be some elements of the Mehdi militia who have turned away from him. Some elements are also just gangsters and criminal elements. So it’s a complex mixture here of Mehdi Army fighters who are loyal to Sadr and then some rogue elements as well.
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