Siege of Sadr City

Part of the Iraq War

Two US Army soldiers during a patrol through Sadr City in February 2006

Date	April 4, 2004 – May 11, 2008 (4 years, 1 month and 1 week)
Location	Sadr City, Iraq
Result	Ceasefire agreement signed. Iraqi government forces allowed to enter and patrol Sadr City

Belligerents

United States

Iraqi security forces

United Kingdom

Mahdi Army

Pre Occupation Iraqi Armed Forces

Commanders and leaders

Robert Abrams - (1st Cav)

Abboud Qanbar

Muqtada al-Sadr

Tahseen al Freiji

Arkan Muhammad Ali al Hasnawi†

Strength

May 2008
10,000+ (Iraqi Security Forces)

May 2008
6,000 – 8,000 (U.S. military estimate)

The Siege of Sadr City was a blockade of the Shi'a district of northeastern Baghdad carried out by U.S. and Iraqi government forces in an attempt to destroy the main power base of the insurgent Mahdi Army in Baghdad. The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday" – with an uprising against the Coalition Provisional Authority following the government banning of a newspaper published by Muqtada Al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement. The most intense periods of fighting in Sadr City occurred during the first uprising in April 2004, the second in August the same year, during the sectarian conflict that gripped Baghdad in late 2006, during the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and during the spring fighting of 2008.

On March 28, the US overseer of Iraq, Paul Bremer, ordered the 60-day closure of Al-Hawza, a newspaper published by Muqtada al-Sadr’s group, on the charges of inciting violence against the occupation. The next day thousands of Iraqis rallied outside the offices of Al-Hawza in support of the newspaper.

On April 3, Bremer sent troops to al-Sadr’s home and arrested Mustafa Yaqoubi, a top lieutenant, sparking further protests.

On April 4, al-Sadr issued a statement calling on his supporters to stop staging demonstrations “because your enemy prefers terrorism”.

“America has unsheathed its fangs and its despicable intentions, and the conscientious Iraqi people cannot remain silent at all. They must defend their rights in the ways they see fit,” the statement said, according to the Washington Post.

On the same day as this statement was given, the Mahdi Army began an uprising against the Coalition. The fighting spread across the south of Iraq, while in Baghdad the fighting was concentrated in the Shi'a areas of Baghdad, mainly Sadr City. This uprising occurred simultaneously with an offensive launched by Sunni insurgents in western Iraq.

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Wikipedia