 On June 6, 2004, Muqtada al-Sadr issued an announcement directing the Mahdi Army to cease operations in Najaf and Kufa, but the fighting in the south continued until June 24, 2004.Coincidentally, just as the Shi'a and Sunni offensives started together on the same day, they ended on the same day.On the day that the fighting ceased in the south, a massive coordinated attack by insurgents was underway in the Sunni territories.