Sadr, whose political bloc won Iraq’s parliamentary election in May, called on all armed groups to hand in their weapons to the government and declared Baghdad’s Sadr City district would be a weapons-free area later this month, according to Reuters.

“Everyone must obey the orders and not stand in the way of this initiative. Everyone should hand over their weapons without any discussion because the blood of Iraqis is more valuable to us than anything else,” he told his supporters in a statement.

At least 18 people were killed and over 90 wounded as a result of the detonation of an ammunitions cache in Sadr City just hours after parliament mandated a nationwide recount of votes for the May election.

Sadr had urged his followers to remain calm after the explosion and ordered his office to investigate the incident.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said storing ammunition in a residential area was a crime and ordered the Interior Ministry to investigate the incident and take legal action against those who had done so.

The Interior Ministry released a statement on Friday thanking Sadr for his announcement.

Reporter’s code: 50101