April 29, 2004
ANTI-SADR INSURGENTS
This is interes
ting. A shadowy resistance group is distributing fliers around the
holy city of Najaf telling members of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's
Mahdi Army to get lost. To make their point, they've killed at least
five militiamen over the past four days.
The group calls itself the Thulfiqar Army, after a twin-
bladed sword said to be used by the Shiite martyr Imam Ali, to whom
Najaf's vast central mosque is dedicated.
Residents say leaflets bearing that name have been circulated in the
city in the last week, urging Sadr's al-Mahdi army to leave immediately
or face imminent death.
The article points out that there is something of a political struggle
between the more moderate Imam al-Sistani and the upstart Muqtada al-
Sadr. Also, the uprising by al-Sadr's violent faction has greatly
disrupted the lives and livelihoods of ordinary residents of Najaf,
generating resentment against al-Sadr in the general population. I
think this would be a great boon to Iraqis and coalition forces if al-
Sadr's forces were crushed by Iraqi resistance and regular fighters.
[via Instapundit.]
Posted by Lexiphane at April 29, 2004 11:06 AM
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