AMARA, Iraq - Iraqi forces backed by US troops have poured into the southern Shia stronghold of Amara in a fresh offensive to drive militiamen out of the violence-wracked city, security officials said on Saturday. Large numbers of heavily armed soldiers have taken up positions in and around the city ahead of an operation that local police said would target 'outlaws'.'Many Iraqi and American troops are everywhere inside and outside Amara waiting for the start of the security operation,' a local police official told AFP. 'The operations will target outlaws.'
An AFP reporter confirmed large troop movements in the city that lies close to the porous border with Iran and that US-led forces believe is a major conduit for weapons. US military spokesman Sergeant Brooke Murphy refused to provide details, but said the military drive was being led by Iraqi security forces.
British troops transferred security control of Maysan province of which Amara is the capital to Iraqi forces in April 2007, but the province, and Amara in particular, has witnessed intense Shia infighting. Iraqi media reports say security in the city has improved over the past few months but that many Shia militiamen are believed to be hiding out in the city of around 350,000 people.
The reports say a large number of militiamen sought refuge in Amara after fleeing the main southern port city of Basra where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a military assault in March.
Sadr's movement said it has offered support to the Iraqi forces in Amara in a bid to avoid an upsurge in violence. 'We have expressed to the committee of the Shia coalition that we work with, that we are able to cooperate with them in order to make the operation succeed,' Sadr's spokesman Salah al-Obeidi told AFP.
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