Rogue elements of the Mahdi Army are ignoring Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's seven-month-old ceasefire order.
"We will fight whoever attacks the Mahdi Army, " chanted the men, many carrying weapons.
They were all complaining about Mahdi Army units acting in the name of Moqtada al-Sadr.
The secularization movement seems to be growing rapidly within JAM and the Mahdi Army community.
There's been fighting in southern Baghdad between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces.
The Mahdi army has been observing a ceasefire but it seems to be fraying.
After a series of assaults by the American and surprise Iraqi militaries, the Mahdi Army was on the run.
The victim, a local electrician and a member of the Mahdi Army, was gunned down in the street.
The Mahdi Army has gone through the streets with loudspeakers demanding that Sunni terrorists and Wahabis must leave.
Many members of the Mahdi Army in Najaf hail from farther afield and are resented by local residents.
Residents blame the local representatives of Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army for targeting the Sunnis in the area.
The Mahdi Army would be nothing at all without Iranian arms, but nowhere does Raghavan even allude to this.
In Sadr City, though, members of the Mahdi Army rank-and-file said they were in a struggle for their very survival.
The Shiites turned to their own militia, the Mahdi Army and to the death squads to protect them, igniting the civil war.
In April 2003, Hezbollah opened offices in southern Iraq and was instrumental in training the Mahdi Army, which Sadr leads.
Does that mean the Mahdi Army lays down its arms and, you know, lays their guns and puts up their hands?
One senior Mahdi Army commander said the cease-fire is still in effect, and he blames Iraq's security forces for the current impasse.
It's clear that the Iranians have been supporting the Mahdi Army or splinters of the Mahdi Army, which is a Shiite militia.
Since August 2007, al-Sadr has been credited with reducing violence in Iraq by leading followers and his Mahdi Army in a cease-fire.
The Mahdi Army has fired upon and killed or wounded hundreds perhaps thousands of U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen.
The subsequent outrage, pledges of revenge by the family, associated tribes and the Mahdi Army indicate what government forces are up against.
The Mahdi Army has fired upon and killed or wounded hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen.
Muqtada el-Sadr's Mahdi Army, although Iraq-based, was also supported by the Iranians.
They said that among those groups were radical elements of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr.
Adm Mullen harshly criticised statements by anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr suggesting he would unleash his Mahdi Army militia if US troops stay.
The government, he says, can't protect the Shiites, and with the ongoing killings, the Mahdi Army is needed and should not be disarmed.
Raghavan does not bother to delve into the radical aspects of the Mahdi Army and the illegitimacy of al Sadr's rise to prominence.
The Mahdi army members have always been there, but they have always been sort of lurking in the shadows and trying to avoid confrontation.
The US defeated al Qaida and Muqtada el-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Iraq in 2007 and 2008 by taking and retaining security control over Iraq.
The Mahdi Army one of the most well armed and feared groups in Iraq had agreed to a unilateral cease-fire seven months ago.
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