American and British forces yesterday widened their support of an Iraqi military offensive in the southern city of Basra, as Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused Iraq's government of acting like "a dictatorship."

U.S. warplanes bombed targets in the city, and British forces fired artillery in battles against the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Sadr. Residents said militiamen battling Iraqi forces attacked police stations and set up roadside bombs.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that officials were "surprised" by the militiamen's strength but that government forces would continue to fight for control of Basra. "If they insist on rejecting" calls to disarm, he said, "we shall insist on confrontation."

Maliki denied accusations that the Iraqi government was trying to undermine political rivals before provincial elections this year. "We came to Basra to fight the outlaws and the smugglers, not to confront a party or a political group because we do not seek political confrontation," he said.

Katuyusha rockets fired at the Basra police headquarters in the center of the city killed several policemen, according to Iraq's Interior Ministry.

Abu Rana, a doctor in Basra, said he saw Mahdi Army fighters planting roadside bombs on the main road that passes through the district where he lives.

"They are holding remote controls and waiting for any Iraqi army convoy to pass by so they would detonate these bombs," he said.

Usama Jassim, 28, an oil company employee, said Iraqi soldiers stormed houses in his neighborhood searching for weapons and fighters.

A senior figure in Sadr's movement said the cleric has told Mahdi Army fighters to surrender weapons "only to a government that is working to expel occupation forces."

Sadr, speaking in a television interview aired yesterday, said the Iraqi government "is far from the people and is dealing with them in a dictatorship way."

He also said his militia's "strategic objective" was "the liberation of Iraq from the occupier."

Sadr rejected accusations that he was being supported by Iran, saying, "I am an independent in that I am not a political or military extension to Iran or any others."

U.S. officials have alleged that Iran supplies weapons to the Mahdi Army, an allegation that Iran has denied.

The U.S. military reported that fighting also continued in Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite district of the capital controlled by the Mahdi Army.

In overnight battles in Sadr City, U.S. soldiers returning fire killed nine insurgents planting roadside bombs or firing at soldiers with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the military said.

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