4 militiamen killed in reprisal attacks in southern Iraq

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security officials say four militiamen have been killed in reprisal attacks between rival Shiite militia groups. The attacks on Thursday came days after violent clashes in Baghdad that brought the country to the precipice of street warfare. Iraqi security forces were swiftly deployed in the southern oil-rich city of Basra to contain the violence that erupted overnight between an armed faction of powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Asaib Ahl al-Haq paramilitary group, led by one of his key Iran-backed rivals. The threat of more clashes looms as the political rivalry between al-Sadr and his Iran-backed rivals continues.