BBC
Heavy fighting has erupted in Basra amid a major pre-dawn offensive by thousands of Iraqi troops against rival Shia militias in the southern city.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki is in Basra overseeing the operation, a day after he visited and vowed to "re-impose law", the UK military said.
Eyewitnesses speak of plumes of smoke, explosions, tanks and artillery.
Oil-rich Basra is in the grip of a turf war between armed groups, including the powerful Mehdi Army, say analysts.
The BBC's Adam Brookes says three Iraqi army brigades were deployed from Baghdad to Basra for Tuesday's operation, and that up to 15,000 troops could be involved......
Just wait until the Grand Iotola Al-Sistani weighs in publicly in favor of Sadr!! P. M. Al-Maliki and his troops will be blown away like "dust in the wind". "Look to it!".
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