In what may be reprisal attacks for the recent violence in the Shi'a shrine city of Karbala, gunmen, believed to be fighters from the powerful Mahdi Army militia, attacked several Baghdad offices of the two major governing Shi'a parties.
Four offices of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and one office of the Islamic Da'wa Party reportedly came under attack across the city, according to various media sources. Two SIIC offices were badly damaged by fire.
"The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council's office in al-Habibiyah neighborhood, eastern Baghdad, came under attack with small-arms fire and RPGs this evening, setting the office ablaze," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Another eyewitness said "the attack occurred today at 8:00 pm leaving some casualties among those present at the office."
Earlier on Tuesday, a police source said unidentified gunmen stormed and burned the office of the Shiite Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) in Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad, VOI writes, another in a series of recent confrontations in Baghdad between the Sadrist militia and the ruling Shi'a parties.
"A group of gunmen stormed this afternoon the office of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) in Kadhimiya city before setting it ablaze," the source, who preferred to be unnamed, told VOI.
"Armed clashes flared up between Shiite cleric's Muqtada al-Sadr's fighters and elements from the office of the SIIC," the source also said, adding no further details.
The Kadhimiya office of the SIIC was burned, along with its contents, a security source told al-Melaf Press, the agency adds in Arabic.
Elements of the Mahdi Army also attacked the office of the SIIC in Sadr City, CNN Arabic writes, and Iraqi security forces were sent to reinforce the area.
The SIIC office in Shu'la also came under attack, al-Melaf Press reports.
Elements of the Mahdi Army have also attacked a Kadhimiya office of the Islamic Da'wa Party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, CNN Arabic reports.
US forces have surrounded the areas where the attacks happened, CNN adds, citing Iraqi security officials.
The SIIC is led by Abd al-'Aziz al-Hakim, who is also the head of the Shi'a-led Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), the largest bloc in the Baghdad parliament.
The SIIC and Islamic Da'wa are allied in support the Maliki government, while the Sadrist bloc has withdrawn its ministers and is increasingly vocal in its opposition to Maliki's rule.
