Violence erupts in Basra as Iraqi forces battle Mehdi Army

At least 12 people have died in the operation, which is being overseen in Basra by Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, a day after he vowed to "re-impose law".

British forces carried out air strikes to support embattled Iraqi army tanks and artillery on the ground.

Oil-rich Basra is in the grip of a bitter turf war between armed groups, including the Mehdi Army, say analysts.

The Mehdi Army - which supports radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - called a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience in response to recent detentions of its followers.

Clashes between US-backed Iraqi security forces and fighters from the Mahdi Army of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr have spread from Basra to a number of other cities, including the capital.   At least 25 people were reported killed in the heavy fighting on Tuesday and salvoes of rockets were reportedly fired on Baghdad's Green Zone.

The Shia armed group had been demanding the release of its detained members.   As the violence broke out, al-Sadr issued a statement calling for demonstrations across the country and threatened "civil disobedience" if attacks by US and Iraqi forces on members of his movement continued.

"We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people," a statement read by Hazam al-Aaraji, an al-Sadr representative, said.

"We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces. If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces."  

Basra operation

  The fighting in Basra, where al-Sadr's followers maintain a strong presence, began before dawn in what the Iraqi government called an operation to win control of the city from militias and criminal gangs.   Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, was in the oil hub city to personally oversee the operation involving thousands of Iraqi troops.  

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