By KUNA,
Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has issued on Saturday instructions to the forces to turn Al-Amarah governorate, near the Iranian borders, into a demilitarized zone (DMZ) as of Sunday.
The instructions include an explicit declaration of the start of a large-scale military campaign against insurgents who fled to the governorate following the recent military operations in southern Iraqi cities.
Al-Maliki gave the insurgents in the area a four-month ultimatum to yield up their various arms and munitions to the security forces and get financial awards on the lines of similar measures in Basra and Mosul cities.
He called on the militants whose hands are not stained with blood to review their legal statuses with the security departments at their respective districts within the coming four days in order to get amnesty.
He instructed the armed forces to deploy in Al-Amarah governorate upon the expiry of the ultimatum to arrest the suspect militant and confiscate their weapons forcibly.
The Iraqi army, backed by the U.S.-led Multi-National Forces in Iraq, is beefing up its positions in Al-Amarah.
U.S. helicopters are distributing leaflets among the citizens of the city to urge them to stay at home during the impending operation and offer all possible help to the security forces.
Hundreds of militants have reportedly fled from southern Iraqi cities to the eastern border governorate on the heels of the recent successful military operations in Basra and Al-Sadr cities.
Most of Iraq’s areas are relatively calm after the major military operations against militiamen who are backed by Iran, according to U.S. reports.