Baghdad  - The Iraqi government and the Shiite al-Sadr movement agreed Saturday to quit the intense fighting that continued since March 25 in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City, media reports said.

However, Al-Arabiya news channel said gunfire was still heard in the Shiite enclave, despite the agreement between the government and Sadrists to stop the armed clashes.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has launched a security offensive codenamed Charges of the Knights against militiamen of Mahdi army loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Thousands were killed and wounded during the clashes that lasted for two months in Sadr City, eastern Baghdad. (dpa)