Photo Gallery The Battle for Basra
Last week, the Iraqi government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki decided to try and regain the upper hand in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. On Sunday, his adversary, Muqtada al-Sadr, called off his Mahdi army. Here, a burned out Iraqi army vehicle.
The brief eruption of violence last week exposed deep fissures in Iraqi society -- fractures that had been papered over by the recent period of relative peace in the country. Here, a man shows a Koran pierced by bullets in a damaged Basra mosque.
Many saw last week's battle as a potential proving ground for the Iraqi army and police.
An Iraqi soldier takes up a position in Basra on Monday. Peace has largely returned to the city after last week's violence. But the fighting also revealed the strength of al-Sadr's forces.
Mahdi army militiamen dancing in front of a burning Iraqi army vehicle on Sunday. There are a number of different centers of power vying for control of Basra and the oil fields nearby.
Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite fighters were thought to have been weakened by al-Sadr's long absence from Iraq. Last week's fighting seemed to prove otherwise.
Not all Iraqi army soldiers were willing to fight against al-Sadr's forces. Here, army troops are marched toward an al-Sadr office after surrendering.
An Iraqi police commando kisses a poster of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday.
The curfew in Basra was to be lifted on Monday. It remains unclear how long the tentative peace will last.
