Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Thursday the next days would see crackdowns against criminals in areas under their control, and he urged the political group of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rid itself of outlaws, according to dpa. More violent attacks were meanwhile reported across Iraq. Al-Maliki launched an offensive codenamed Charge of the Knights against fighters of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia on March 25 in the southern city of Basra. Speaking at a news conference, al-Maliki said there were areas in Baghdad that needed a "Charge of the Knights" to clear them of criminal gangs. "Outlaws should return to their senses and leave people in Sadr City, Shula and Kazimiyah to live in freedom," al-Maliki was quoted as telling reporters by the Voices of Iraq news (VOI) agency. Sadr City, Shula and Kazimiyah - all Mahdi Army strongholds in Baghdad - have seen deadly clashes between government troops and al- Sadr's loyalists in the wake of the launch of the Basra crackdown. "Those criminal gangs believing that they are above the law and that their force is above the army are deceiving themselves," al- Maliki warned. "There will be battles in the next days in areas that have fallen hostage to those gangs," the premier vowed. Speaking at another press conference Thursday, al-Maliki said the Basra offensive did not target any political groups but criminals committing thefts and smuggling. He urged al-Sadr, who called his fighters off the streets on Sunday, to clear his militia of outlaws. Meanwhile, violence continued to flare in Basra, where US airstrikes destroyed a house in the Kobla district on Thursday. According to earlier reports the attack killed four civilians. The US military confirmed the air raids were conducted by a US fixed-wing aircraft, but said there was no reports of any civilians killed. Sources at Iraq's Defence Ministry said Iraqi army forces detained the leader of Thaar-Allah Shiite party, VOI reported. The Shiite party leader, Youssef Sinawy, was taken from his house in Basra together with his three brothers. A Sinawy security guard was killed after heavy clashes with Iraqi troops. Sinawy is listed among the targeted militants in Basra's security operation, reports said. Thaar-Allah was established in 2005 as a political movement and became a party after elections in Basra city. In 2006, the Shiite party has been involved in several clashes with the Iraqi police. Since then, Thaar-Allah has been accused by Iraqi forces of committing violent crimes in the city. In another development in the city of Hillah, south of Baghdad, two terrorist suspects were detained and three civilians wounded during a military operation, US forces said, adding that the incident was under investigation. Earlier reports said night guards by mistake opened fire on a US patrol early Thursday in Jamiyah, a district in the city centre. Later, a US gunship shelled the scene of the shooting, killing five policemen and injuring 11, including two women in their homes, the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. Separately, seven people were killed and 12 injured in a suicide bombing in the northern city of Mosul last night, VOI reported. A suicide bomber blew up a car near a checkpoint in west Mosul, General Khaled Abdel-Sattar, an army spokesman in Nineveh province, told VOI. A woman and a child were among the dead, five children and three soldiers among the wounded. In Baghdad, Iraqi police told VOI that a civilian was killed and another seven were wounded when a car bomb was remotely detonated in Harethiya district. The casualties, including women and children, were moved to Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital.
