Mahdi Army weaker in Sadr City – U.S. commander

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Commander of U.S. battalion deployed in Sadr City on Monday said that Mahdi Army has become weaker after the last March confrontations, and that this army’s 12 to 15 commanders fled the country to Iran, in addition to more than 700 of Mahdi Army’s 2,000 members having been killed so far. “The Mahdi army in Sadr City has 2,000 – 4,000 members, but only 2,000 of them were ready for a direct confrontation with us,” the U.S. commander said in a press conference in Baghdad. “We believe that we killed 700 – 800 of them,” he added. “Prominent commanders of Mahdi Army in Sadr City are 15 – 20, but 12 of them are currently trying to return to the city, and we are monitoring their movements,” he explained. “Those commanders are loyal neither to Iraqi government nor to Muqtada al-Sadr,” he proceeded. “They look for power only, and they try to give a religious color to their activities,” he noted. “Mahdi Army is no more that influential as it was before last March,” he asserted. MH (P)/SR 1