Siege of Sadr City
The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday"[4] – with an uprising against the Coalition Provisional Authority following the government banning of a newspaper published by Muqtada Al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement.Reports later indicated that the coordinated enemy attack from the Mahdi Army consisted of over 100 militiamen, and the six US soldiers killed an estimated 19 insurgents while enduring no casualties to their own team–or the Iraqi police who refused to assist in the engagement.Despite this initial concern, the 1st Cavalry Division consistently retained freedom of movement in Sadr City, conducting multiple patrols every day and night.Mahdi Army militiamen, for their part, coordinated a system of security in the slum that ran parallel to the official police structure, but this soon crumbled as they suffered heavy casualties in the uprising.[8] In subsequent months, Sadr City experienced near-constant combat that was occasionally lifted following agreements by the Mahdi Army to end the fighting.The Mahdi Army occasionally shelled the Green Zone, the central seat of coalition power in Iraq, with mortars and rockets from the district.On June 4, a Mahdi Army ambush on a US National Guard patrol on Palestine Street, near Sadr City, left five US soldiers dead.[1] By late November the operation ended with southern portions of Baghdad still remaining in al-Qaeda hands and the whole of Sadr City still under Mahdi Army control.In late August, heavy fighting erupted in Karbala between the Mahdi Army and policemen who were members of the rival Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.On March 25, an Iraqi military assault was launched against the port city of Basra, which was held by a number of militia groups, but primarily by the Mahdi Army.Beginning early in the morning of March 25, Mahdi Army militia launched a number of rocket and mortar attacks from Sadr City at US forward operating bases throughout Baghdad, as well as the Green Zone.A company's commander CPT Frank Atkinson(whose grandfather invented the washing machine) was quoted as saying "SSG Chris McKinney's stellar leadership and his squads violence of action resulted in numerous enemy KIA and no American casualties despite the overwhelming small arms and rpg fire.""These weapons are for defending the country but not for fighting your brothers," said Sheik Salman al-Fraji, head of the Sadr office there[17] (See also: Video coverage of event on YouTube).[18] On April 6, 2008, the Iraqi National Security Council released a statement calling on all political parties to disband their militias if they wanted to participate in the elections later in the year.[19] On the same day, a joint US–Iraqi military force, including Iraqi elements drawn from the 11th Division, advanced into the southern suburbs of Sadr City, provoking heavy street fighting as militiamen opened fire with RPGs and automatic weapons.[20] The joint raid was a part of a coalition attempt to stop mortar and rocket fire on the Green Zone by seizing neighborhoods in Sadr City being used as launching points by the Mahdi Army.The fighting mostly stopped early on April 11, as US and Iraqi forces managed to advance down the main road through Sadr City and set up a forward defence line inside the district.On April 27, the Mahdi Army once again took advantage of a heavy dust storm, which grounded US aerial elements, to attack the blockades around Sadr City.On April 29, US forces in Stryker vehicles tried to push deeper into Sadr City but were met with stiff resistance from fighters using machine guns and RPGs.[38][39] Over the next week, militiamen in Sadr City and the neighboring suburbs continued emplacing IEDs, firing rockets and attacking US forces constructing the barrier along al-Quds street.On May 6, an ISOF unit captured seven "Special Groups" members allegedly responsible for supplying explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) into Baghdad, as well as firing rockets into the Green Zone.[2][45] Just before dawn on May 20, six battalions of Iraqi soldiers entered the northern districts of Sadr City as part of Operation Salaam ("Peace" in Arabic).Iraqi forces secured the Imam Ali and Sadr hospitals as well as setting up a checkpoint and positioning tanks outside al-Sadr's political office.
Iraq WarIraqi Civil WarBattle of Baghdad (2006–2008)Sadr CityUnited KingdomMahdi ArmyRobert B. Abrams1st CavAbboud QanbarMuqtada al-SadrOutlineTimelineInvasion (2003)Umm QasrAl Faw1st BasraNasiriyahRaid on KarbalaHaditha Dam1st NajafNorthern DelayViking HammerSamawah1st KarbalaAl KutHillahKarbala GapDebecka PassBaghdadPost-invasion insurgency (2003–2006)Al AnbarKilling of Qusay & Uday Hussein1st RamadanLatifiyaCapture of Saddam HusseinSpring 2004City HallIron Saber1st Fallujah1st RamadiGood FridayHusaybahDanny Boy2nd NajafCIMIC-HouseSamarra2nd FallujahLake ThartharAl Qa'imHadithaSteel CurtainTal Afar2nd RamadiTogether ForwardDiwaniyaCivil war (2006–2008)2nd RamadanSinbadAmarahDiyalaHaifa StreetKarbala Raid3rd NajafImposing LawU.K. basesBlack EagleBaghdad beltsAlljahBaqubahDonkey IslandShurta NasirPhantom Strike2nd KarbalaPhantom PhoenixInsurgency (2008–2011)2008 Day of AshuraNinevehSpring 20082nd Basra2008 al-Qaeda OffensiveAugurs of ProsperityAbu KamalPalm GroveCamp AshrafUS withdrawal violenceList of bombings during the Iraq War1st Baghdad2nd Baghdad3rd Baghdad1st Nasiriyah‡ 1st Erbil‡ Ashoura1st Mosul4th Baghdad5th BaghdadKarbala & Najaf1st BaqubahSuwaira bombing‡ 1st Al Hillah2nd Erbil‡ Musayyib6th Baghdad‡ 7th Baghdad1st BaladKhanaqin‡ Karbala-Ramadi1st Samarra8th Baghdad9th Baghdad‡ 10th Baghdad11th Baghdad12th Baghdad‡ 13th Baghdad14th Baghdad15th Baghdad‡ 2nd Al Hillah‡ 1st Tal Afar16th Baghdad17th Baghdad2nd & 3rd Karbala2nd Mosul‡ 18th BaghdadMakhmourAbu Sayda2nd Samarra19th Baghdad