Many experts say the crackdown backfired by exposing the army's weakness and reinforcing Sadr's support base. During the fighting, the defence minister acknowledged his troops were surprised by the ferocity of the resistance.
"The government misjudged the situation and Maliki has lost a lot," said Iraqi political analyst Ghassan al-Atiya in London.
The crackdown exposed a rift within Iraq's Shi'ite majority between the political parties in Maliki's government and followers of the populist cleric Sadr.
IMPROVING PICTURE?
Despite the sharp rise in casualties last month, the March figure was still much lower than the 1,861 civilians who died violently in the same month a year ago at a time when Iraq was on the verge of all-out civil war. A total of 1,358 civilians were wounded last month, compared with 2,700 a year ago.
The Iraqi data also showed 102 policemen and 54 soldiers were killed in March, compared with 65 and 20 respectively in February. It showed 641 insurgents had been killed in March and 2,509 detained.
Overall attacks have fallen since last June when 30,000 extra U.S. troops became fully deployed. Another factor bringing down attacks was a unilateral ceasefire declared by Sadr last August. Last week's fighting had jeopardised that.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday the recent violence in southern Iraq would not affect U.S. plans to withdraw 20,000 troops by July. U.S. commanders expect to have 140,000 soldiers in Iraq once the drawdown is complete.
The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker will give a much-anticipated report on Iraq to Congress next week.
Petraeus is expected to recommend a pause in troop withdrawals to avoid losing the gains made in recent months.
Sadr ordered his Mehdi Army fighters off the streets after government authorities agreed to stop rounding up his followers and implement an amnesty to free prisoners. But Sadr supporters said Iraqi security forces continued to arrest them.
