Since then the city was in the middle of a turf war between three different militias, including the Mahdi Army, for the control of the oil exports which had been dominated by the Black Market.

By 29 March, the Iraqi military offensive against the city was faltering in the face of stiff resistance as the 72-hour ultimatum by the government passed and the militants refused to surrender.

Clashes between militiamen and al-Maliki's tribe in Qurna, north of Basra, left 7 dead, including a policeman and a civilian, and 2 wounded on both sides.

The Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team detained 20 vehicle smugglers in Basra as part of "continuing deliberate operations against criminals to restore a rule of law", according to a US military spokesman.

[27] 2 April: Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Furayji leads a 12 vehicle Iraqi Army convoy though the Hayaniya district, a Sadr stronghold in central Basra, in an apparent show of force.

[30] A US Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) attacked a technical in the Halaf area of Basra, killing 6 "armed criminals" after heavy machine gun fire was reported.

[37] In a Coalition raid during the night 10 militants were killed and two weapons caches, including 60 mm mortar rounds, rocket propelled grenades and explosively formed penetrators, were found.

[40] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki continues to deny that any concessions were made or that Iran was involved in negotiating Muqtada al-Sadr's cease-fire order on 30 March 2008.

[42] 8 April: A roadside bomb targeted the convoy of interior ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, wounding two of his guards in northern Basra.

It also reported an al-Qaida in Iraq leader was captured by Iraqi forces in Abu al-Khasib, a small town 20 km southeast of Basra.

However, a spokesman for the Sadrist bloc in Basra, Ali al-Suaidi, says the Iraqi government "wants to blame its failure on somebody" and the moves are "punishment for the botched execution of the campaign".

Since major Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish parties have already supported the Maliki government in its crackdown for some time, Sadr appears increasingly politically isolated.

The clashes, soon after the start of the security operation, spread from Basra to Baghdad, mainly the Sadr City district of the capital, which was under the control of the Mahdi Army.

[62][63][64][65][66][67] Tahseen Sheikhly, a Sunni civilian spokesman for operation Imposing Law, was kidnapped by gunmen who stormed his house in a Mahdi Army stronghold in southeastern Baghdad and torched it.

By this point the Iraqi Health Ministry reported at least 75 civilians killed and 500 injured in fighting in Sadr City and other eastern Baghdad neighbourhoods.

The fighting mostly stopped early on 11 April, as U.S. and Iraqi forces managed to advance down the main road through Sadr City and set up a forward defence line inside the district.

[87] On 29 April, U.S. forces in Stryker vehicles tried to push deeper into Sadr City but were met with stiff resistance from fighters using machine-guns and RPGs.

On 3–4 May, an infantry company from the 10th Mountain Division attempted to isolate the Mahdi Army along the eastern boundary of Sadr City by placing barriers along major intersections.

Using close air support, tanks, and armoured vehicles the soldiers defeated militia strongholds along the eastern sections of Sadr City.

During the latest round of fighting six Iraqi and three U.S. soldiers, six policemen, one U.S.-allied militiaman, 93 militiamen and 30 civilians were killed in clashes between the Mahdi Army and security forces in other parts of the capital.

[92] 13 May: Clashes between security forces and Shi'ite gunmen killed 2 Iraqi soldiers, 11 militiamen and 12 civilians and wounded 28 people in Baghdad overnight.

[95] The security forces stated that six Iraqi soldiers and policemen died while 11 militants were killed in a combined US Special Forces-Iraqi SWAT patrol.

On 26 March, U.S. forces conducted air strikes in support of Hillah's Iraqi SWAT unit during fighting with Shi'ite militia in the Thawra neighbourhood.

[102] The next day heavy street battles continued in Hilla, most of them in the city center, with at least one soldier and five policemen killed and another 26 members of the security forces being wounded.

In response to the fighting the political movement of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched a nationwide civil disobedience campaign across Iraq to protest the raids and detentions against the Mahdi Army.

[124] Militiamen attacked the village of Al Daoum, south-east of Karbala, killing five people, kidnapping six others and destroying four houses in retaliation against the families of Iraqi soldiers.

[128] Shiite militants reached an agreement with the Iraqi government to end fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City district, a spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr reported.

[40] Many analysts said the Mahdi Army had scored a major political victory, which also presented the fighting capabilities of the militia that were, despite a lack of heavier weapons, far greater than those of the Iraqi security forces.

[citation needed] However, this has apparently been objected to by the Maliki Government, since it continued its operations against Mahdi Army strongholds in Sadr City and Basrah.

In light of the battle with the Mahdi army, there has been consensus from Kurdish, Sunni and the Shia political parties not aligned with Sadrists to support Prime Minister Maliki's efforts to impose Government authority in the south, even showing support to revoking the right of any political party to be represented in the October provincial elections if they continue to operate militias outside of Iraqi law.