Iraqi police raided strongholds of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia in the southern city of Kut today, hunting gunmen who battled with security forces a day earlier.
Several Iraqi security officials said the gunmen were members of the Mehdi Army, which is meant to be observing a ceasefire, but the director of Sadr's office in Kut said they were "outlaws" with no links to Sadr.
Sadr renewed the ceasefire last month but at the weekend issued a statement telling followers they could defend themselves if attacked. Until yesterday's fighting, which health officials said killed 13 people, there had been no major reported violations of the ceasefire.
Kut police officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sudad Jamil, said police were in control of the Anwar Sadr, al-Izza, Al-Shuhada and al-Zahra districts, all Mehdi Army strongholds, and had begun raiding homes and setting up checkpoints.
A fifth neighbourhood where the Mehdi Army has a presence, al-Jihad, had been sealed off, he said. No fighting was reported in the city.
"We have purged four neighbourhoods and arrested a group of Mehdi Army gunmen, including a senior leader," said another police officer, Lieutenant Aziz al-Amara, who commands a rapid reaction unit.
Amara said that under interrogation the gunmen had denied breaking the ceasefire and said they had acted in self-defence.
However, Kut police chief Major-General Abdul-Hanin al-Amara, said at a news conference that those detained had told police they belonged to a religious movement, suggesting they were not linked to Sadr.