BAGHDAD: A powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric says the additional 560 US troops to be sent to Iraq to upgrade an air base recently retaken from the Islamic State group would be a 'target' for his supporters. Muqtada al-Sadr's threat came in response to a question from a supporter about the deployment, announced last week by US Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Al-Sadr wrote on his official website late Sunday that 'they are a target for us,' without elaborating. Al-Sadr's supporters fought major battles against American troops during the 2003-11 US intervention in Iraq and have been fighting IS in the two years since the Sunni militants swept across much of northern and western Iraq. In recent months, al-Sadr has been campaigning for reform and an end to government corruption.