Life appeared to be normal inmost of Basra neighborhoods on Monday, while some other areas are getting back to normal life slowly a day after powerful Shiite cleric offered a truce.
After six days of clashes in Basra between U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces and Mahdi Army militia, masked gunmen disappeared from many of the city neighborhoods and life returned to normal, alocal witness told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"There is no clashes in the city and life is getting normal cautiously as some one-third of the city shops are opened," he said.
"There is a fragile commitment to Sadr's truce declaration by some gunmen in Mahdi Army stronghold neighborhoods of Jamhuriyah, Muwafaqiyah, Haiyyaniyah and Khamsa Mil," he said.
On Sunday, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Armymilitiamen to put weapons aside after fierce clashes in Basra and other Iraqi southern cities in addition to Baghdad, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people.
Around midday, a statement by Sadr office in Basra said that "Mahdi Army militiamen disappeared from the city streets, according to orders of Saiyyd Muqtada al-Sadr to bring peace to the city."
Iraqi security forces deployed in the city streets and intersections peacefully, the statement said.
"I feel more secure today because life is almost normal and I haven't seen any armed appearances in the streets for more than an hour ago," Muhammad Abdul Mahdi, 37, a resident from Jamhuriyah neighborhood in central city told Xinhua.
Iraqi security forces on Monday morning discovered a cache of 200 Iranian made rockets in the Tannoma area just west of Basra City, some 550 km south of Baghdad, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Source:Xinhua
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