BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is vowing to disarm militias by force and disband the Shi’ite Mahdi Army, Sunni insurgent groups and al-Qaida in Iraq.Mr. Maliki made the pledge at a news conference Wednesday in Baghdad. His comments follow days of heavy fighting that pits U.S. and Iraqi forces against Shi’ite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad’s Sadr City. The military says at least 66 fighters have been killed there since Sunday.

Mr. Maliki also ordered the crackdown last month on Sadr’s Mahdi Army in the southern city of Basra.

In other news, the U.S. military says Iraqi police are conducting an investigation along a route frequently used by morning commuters in northern Kirkuk City, and outside shops in the city. Two bomb blasts there on Tuesday wounded 14 civilians and three Iraqi Army personnel. Reports say another civilian may have died.

Separately, U.S. military officials said five suspected insurgents dressed in Iraqi Army uniforms targeted the home of a human rights worker, killing two people on Tuesday.

In a statement, the military said the human rights worker, as well as an Iraqi soldier who lived in the neighborhood, were killed. Two Iraqi civilians were also injured.

The military did not provide details about the location of the attack, but the statement was issued from Diyala province.

Source:  VOA News