Saddam City
|
Sadr City مدينة الصدر (Madinat aṣ-Ṣadr) |
|
|---|---|
| District of Baghdad | |
 |
|
 Sadr City
|
|
| Coordinates: 33°23′20″N 44°27′30″E / 33.38889°N 44.45833°E | |
| Country | Iraq |
| Governorate | Baghdad Governorate |
| City | Baghdad |
| Area | |
| • Total | 13 km2 (5 sq mi) |
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 3.500.000 |
Sadr City (Arabic: مدينة الصدر Madinat aṣ-Ṣadr), formerly known as Al-Thawra (الثورة) and Saddam City, is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim and later unofficially renamed Sadr City after Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.
Sadr City (or more accurately Thawra District — Arabic: حيّ الثورة - ħayy ath-Thawra) is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. A public housing project neglected by Saddam Hussein, Sadr City holds around 1 million residents.
Sadr City was built in Iraq in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim in response to grave housing shortages in Baghdad. At the time named Revolution City (مدينة الثورة "Al-Thawra"), it provided housing for Baghdad's urban poor, many of whom had come from the countryside and who had until then lived in appalling conditions. It quickly became a stronghold of the Iraqi Communist Party, and resistance to the Baathist-led coup of 1963 was strong there.
In 1982, the district was renamed Saddam City. After the foreign occupation of Baghdad in April 2003, the district was unofficially renamed Sadr City after deceased shiite leader Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.
In April, 2003, the US Army 2d Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment established their headquarters at the abandoned Sumer cigarette factory located on the eastern side of Sadr City. In honor of the history of the factory, the military named their new camp Camp Marlboro. In addition to the 800 soldiers in the squadron, the camp housed 120 military police of the 549th Military Police Company, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company of the 2-37th Armored Regiment (2-37 AR), two six man teams of civil affairs soldiers from the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, 1 platoon from the 51st Signal Battalion (Airborne), and the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, and two three-man PSYOP teams from 361st PSYOP Company. Service Support for contingent of 800 Soldiers was provided by the 730th Quartermaster Company, a National Guard unit from Johnson City, Tennessee activated and assigned to the 13th Combat Service Support Battalion under 24th COSCOM. The Crusader Company of 2-37 Armor later replaced the 3rd platoon as they were sent to rejoin their company at Camp War Eagle.
...
Wikipedia