Nice surge you got there…

Is the Mahdi Army’s ‘cease-fire’ over?

BAGHDAD – The gun battle in Sadr City between Shiite militiamen and the Iraqi Army lasted only 10 minutes, according to residents of the slum where Moqtada al-Sadr holds great sway.

In the end, as many as 18 soldiers were captured after the March 8 ambush, carried out by so-called “rogue elements” of Mr. Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

[snip]

The next day, the men were freed, but not all of them returned with their guns, newly issued US manufactured M16s that are now believed to be in the hands of an element of Sadr’s militia that does not appear to be abiding by a freeze in operations ordered last August. About 10 rifles are missing.