Shi'ite kills Shi'ite

8 people were killed and around 27 wounded when a protest in Najaf ended in bloodshed today as rival Shi'ite militias, the Badr Organization and Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army clashed.

Simply, the Badr Organization are pro-government while the supporters of Sadr are not.

Sadr followers then attacked the offices of the Badr Organization and fortified their own offices in Najaf with hundreds of armed men.

Badr Organization

It is the Iranian-trained wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the largest Shiite party in Iraq. During the U.S.-led occupation government's crackdown on militia groups in 2003, the 10,000-strong militia changed its name from the Badr Brigade to the Badr Organization of Reconstruction and Development and pledged to disarm. The group, however, has reportedly remained armed, and today operates mainly in Shiite-controlled southern Iraq, where a number of regional governments are dominated by SCIRI representatives. One of Badr's recent offshoots is a feared, elite commando unit linked to the Iraqi Interior Ministry called the Wolf Brigade. Sunni leaders have recently accused the Badr Organization of revenge killings against Sunni clerics and unlawful kidnappings.

The Mahdi Army / Mehdi Army / Jaish al Mahdi

Loyal to the young, anti-U.S. cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, this group of thousands of armed loyalists fought U.S. forces for much of last year before agreeing to an October 2004 ceasefire. Recent news reports suggest the militia, which controls much of Sadr City, a Baghdad slum of some 2.5 million Shiites, may be regrouping and rearming itself. Muqtada al-Sadr has refused to participate directly in the Iraqi government, though some of his followers were elected to seats on the Iraqi National Assembly.


ding ding....round 1....Go Badr!