The fighting between Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces in the south of Iraq entered its third day.

Thousand of Shiites got out in the streets to protest against Iraqi security’s crackdown on Sadr’s militias, as new rocket attacks hit the area that hosts the U.S. Embassy.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had ordered Iraqi security forces to suppress Sadr’s Mehdi Army.

“Maliki keep your hands off. People do not want you!” the protesters shouted.

More than 70 people have died and hundreds have been wounded since the clashes started Tuesday.

The U.S.-led coalition in Basra was reduced to the minimum, after the British forces left the Iraqis responsibility for the area at the end of December, and, on this occasion, Iraqi government’s ability to control the situation is tested.

Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, requested on Wednesday that the Shiite militants surrender in 72 hours.

"Those who were deceived into carry weapons must deliver themselves and make a written pledge to promise they will not repeat such action within 72 hours. Otherwise, they will face the most severe penalties," he warned, according to Aljazeera.net.

Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army, brought into discussion the possibility of negotiations to stop the violence, but nothing has been decided yet.

In the meanwhile, Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone was struck by rockets again, causing a fire, as Iraqi and US embassy officials told BBC.

The fights also extended to the towns of Hilla and Diwaniya and the number of gunfights is continually growing, while residents in southern Iraq are complaining about the smoke and the bad smell.