Members of the Iraqi security forces gesture after clashes with followers of Shi’ite cleric Sarkhi in Karbala

Members of the Iraqi security forces gesture after clashes with followers of Shi’ite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi in the holy city of Karbala, southwest of Baghdad, July 2, 2014. Up to 45 people were killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and followers of a radical cleric in the holy Shi’ite city of Karbala on Wednesday, security sources said, signalling divisions among Shi’ite factions as a Sunni insurgency rages. The clashes erupted when police and army personnel tried to arrest Sarkhi around midnight on Tuesday in the southern city of Karbala, an Interior Ministry intelligence officer and a police witness told Reuters. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ – Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) – RTR3WVIE