Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared a "revolution" against US-led security forces in Iraq today after a fragile month-long truce in the holy city of Najaf ended with clashes that brought down a US helicopter.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia claimed control of four southern communities, including Basra, Iraq 's second-largest city though Iraqi officials denied the claim.
Al-Sadr's call for an uprising is his first significant test of Iraq 's new interim government since it took office on June 28th and signals the end to the accord observed by Iraq 's long-oppressed Shiite majority in the south.
"This is a revolution against the occupation force until we get independence and democracy," al-Sadr's spokesman, Mr Ahmed Shaybani, said.
He accused the Iraqi police, National Guard and US forces of conspiring to break the truce, which restricted coalition forces from entering parts of the city, including areas near the sacred sites.
Mr Shaybani said the coalition forces surrounded the city early today. "We knew they wanted to invade ... We didn't want to violate the truce, and we are still committed to it. But they don't respect the word they gave. They want it to be war."
The US military and Iraqi police, however, said the fighting began when suspected members of the Mahdi Army attacked a police station last night.
"If they want it to be war, let it be," said Ghalib Hashim Jazaeri, Najaf's police chief. "We have enough men and equipment to defeat them."
One US soldier was killed and five were wounded in the fighting while the Iraqi government said eight fighters were killed and 22 injured.
A US helicopter was shot down injuring crew members in the fighting.
In Basra, the British military said it fought a gun battle with the al-Sadr militia after being attacked by small arms fire. A military spokeswoman said two militants were killed.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraq 's Interior Minister Falah Naqib pledged to find al-Sadr and arrest him. "We will not negotiate," he said at news conference. "We will fight these militias. We have power to stop these people, and we'll kick them out of the country."