Bakr Sidqi
Following the arrest of one of the more prominent clerical followers of Ayatollah Khashif al-Ghita in May, including Ahmad Asadallah on May 6, Rumaytha Shia tribes of Abu Hasan, Bani Zurayyij and Zawalim tribes revolted. Martial law was declared in Diwaniyya by Bakr Sidqi, and the full power of the Iraqi military employed against the Shia tribesmen. The air force began bombing the rebel villages in Diwaniyya on May 11. On May 13, the Muntafiq tribes of Suq al-Shuyukh and Nasiriyya revolted as well, shortly after which their sheikhs travelled to Najaf to sign the manifesto of Shia tribes against Yasin al-Hashimi. On the night of May 15, the rebels took over the town of Suq al-Shuyukh and cut the railway between Basra and Nasiriyya.