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BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Baghdad was locked down on Friday amid a weekend curfew with pedestrians and vehicles keeping off the roads after violent clashes this week between security forces and Shiite fighters.
An AFP correspondent said most of the capital's main roads were deserted after the city's military command imposed a curfew since Thursday night till Sunday 5:00 am (0200 GMT).
The curfew has been imposed to contain the fighting between Shiite militants and Iraqi troops, security officials told AFP.
Dozens of people have been killed in Baghdad and at least 105 countrywide in clashes since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered his troops to crack down on "lawless gangs" in the southern city of Basra on Tuesday, according to official reports.
Some sources have put the toll at double that.
On Friday, Sadr City - the bastion of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr - which saw brutal clashes since Tuesday, was largely calm, an AFP correspondent said.
He said relatives in Sadr City were preparing to arrange for the funerals of those killed in the clashes.
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