Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has given Shi’ite fighters in the southern province of Maysan a further week to surrender amid an ongoing crackdown on their activities. Before the operation was launched on June 19, al-Maliki had given a four day deadline for militants to hand over their weapons.

Maysan is the stronghold of anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Few clashes have been reported in the province since the counter-insurgency operation began.

Meanwhile, three US soldiers and their interpreter were killed last night when a roadside bomb exploded in northern Iraq. The attack happened in Nineveh province.

Two US soldiers and two American government employees were among ten people who died yesterday when a bomb went off at a council meeting in eastern Baghdad.

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