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Iraqi security forces lost 15 soldiers and 400 others wounded since the commencement of Operation Saulat al-Forsan (Knights' Assault) in the southern Iraq city of Basra last March, according to the interior ministry's National Command Center on Monday.

"Fifteen soldiers were killed and 400 others wounded since the launching of Saulat al-Forsan, while the losses of gunmen in different areas of Basra were 400," the center's chief Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

Saulat al-Forsan, which started during the last week of March, was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with the aim of tracking down "outlaws" in the oil-rich port city of Basra. Clashes erupted between government forces and armed groups believed to belong to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias.

Meanwhile, Khalaf said 28 convicts were executed on Sunday after being found guilty of committing murders, assassinations and kidnappings before Saulat al-Forsan was launched.