Map of the disposition of Iraqi and US forces in and around Sadr City and the progress on the barrier. The red portion has yet to be completed. Map courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq.

Mahdi Army fighters continue to attack US and Iraqi units as they work to complete the barrier along Qods Street in Sadr City. These attacks are occurring despite the truce agreed upon by the Sadrist political block and the Iraqi government. Iraqi and US forces said 10 Mahdi Army fighters during clashes in Sadr City and three more Mahdi fighters were killed elsewhere in Baghdad. Iraqi troops have also begun reinforcing the Shula neighborhood in Baghdad.

The Iraqi military said it killed eight “gunmen” inside Sadr City over the past 24 hours. The US military said it killed two Mahdi Army fighters from the night of May 12 to the morning of May 13 during five separate engagements. Three more Mahdi Army fighters were killed in the Mahdi-influenced neighborhood in New Baghdad and in northwestern Baghdad as they planted roadside bombs.

The attacks occurred during construction on the barrier along Qods Street, the main thoroughfare that divides the southern third of Sadr City from the northern neighborhoods. The US military used air weapons teams armed with Hellfire missiles, Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, and infantry to beat back the attacks.

The US military does not believe the radical elements of the Mahdi Army will obey Sadr’s call for a ceasefire. “They are obviously not listening to any agreement, and hence why we call them Special Groups and rogue elements, “ said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad, in an email to The Long War Journal.

While the Sadrists claim that one of the terms of the cease-fire agreement is that US forces will not operate in Sadr City, the agreement actually states the Iraqi military would try to limit a US presence in the area. Stover is unable to discuss future operations, but his statements indicate the US military is not planning to leave Sadr City.

“We are establishing a safe neighborhood for south Sadr City residents,” Stover said. “We built the wall to establish security for south Sadr City residents (and us) and established check points to degrade the enemies' ability to maneuver, reinforce and resupply. As part of COIN [counterinsurgency], we're going to try and make life real good for the south Sadr City residents as we did in other areas of Baghdad.”

A total of 593 Mahdi Army fighters have been confirmed killed in and around Sadr City since March 25, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. More than one-quarter of the Mahdi Army fighters killed have been killed in US airstrikes.

As clashes continue in Sadr City, the Iraqi military moved additional forces into the Shula neighborhood in western Baghdad Sadr City. “Baghdad operations command have started replacing the troops stationed in Shula, and reinforcing them with further units,” said Brigadier General Qassem Atta, the spokesman for the Baghdad security operation. The Sadrist claim the Army arrested 30 of its members in a raid on a Sadirst office, but Atta denied this. “When the troops reached the electricity power station close to al Sadr’ office, they were exposed to fire by gunmen, forcing the troops to engage and chase the shooters.”

US and Iraqi troops have conducted numerous raids against the Mahdi Army and Special Groups leaders and operatives in the Shula neighborhood. On May 6, Iraqi troops arrested 35 hospital workers in Shula for aiding the Mahdi Army.

The hospitals in Sadr City are known to be infiltrated with Mahdi Army and Sadrist bloc members who continue to use the hospitals for criminal activities. The Mahdi Army used hospitals as staging areas for sectarian attacks and weapons storage depots. On May 3, US forces knocked out a Special Groups command and control center situated next to a Sadr City hospital. The Sadrist bloc ran the Health Ministry prior to withdrawing from the government in 2007.

For more on the recent fighting in Sadr City and the cease-fire, see Sadrist bloc buckles, agrees to let Iraqi Army in Sadr City.