US troops leave checkpoints around Sadr City - Published: 11/01/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)

[EXCERPT] Iraqi troops loaded coils of barbed wire and red traffic cones on to pickup trucks, while small groups of men and children danced in circles chanting slogans praising Al Sadr, who earlier yesterday had ordered the area closed to the Iraqi government until US troops lifted what he called their 'siege' of the neighborhood. Extra checkpoints were set up last week as USSadr City, US troops launched an intensive search for a missing soldier. Shortly after leaving troops dismantled other checkpoints in the downtown Karradah neighborhood where the soldier had been abducted, loading barbed wire coils on to their Stryker armored vehicles.

SadrCity-Strike Posted by: nadioshka on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 11:56 AM General strike in Sadr City to protest U.S. blockade - By Adel Fakher - Baghdad, Oct 31,

(VOI) – A general strike started in the mainly-Shiite Baghdad district of Sadr City on Tuesday to protest a seven-day-old blockade by U.S. forces. All vehicle movement came to a standstill, government offices and public schools stayed closed and residents blocked side streets in the neighborhood. “The residents of Sadr City went out on a big peaceful demonstration to demand ending the blockade of the district and other Baghdad districts such as al-Karadah-Shu’la, al-Horriya, al-Tobji and Washash,” said Falah Shenshel the head of Sadrist bloc in the Iraqi parliament. “The U.S. forces did not respond to the demonstration and kept the blockade on Sadr City,” Shenshel told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by the telephone. Mosque preachers in Sadr City called on Monday night for the general strike and said it would go on until further notice. The U.S. forces have been cordoning off the district since Wednesday to search for a missing U.S. soldier of Iraqi origin.

Iraq: 69 dead, US death toll over 100 in October - Posted: 30-10-2006 , 13:27 GMT

[EXCERPT] At least 69 people died or found dead in Iraq on Monday, including 33 bombing victims of an attack on laborers lined up to find a days work in Baghdad's Sadr city Shiite slum. The bomb targeting Iraqi Shiites lining up for day jobs in Baghdad's Sadr City slum killed at least 33 people and injured more than 59 others, police said. According to the AP, the bomb tore through a collection of food stalls and kiosks at about 6:15 a.m., cutting down men who gather there daily hoping to be hired as laborers. There were conflicting reports as to whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a device concealed amid debris by the roadside.

US, Iraqi forces raid Shia stronghold of Sadr City (AP) 25 October 2006

[EXCERPT] The US military said Iraqi army special forces, backed up by US advisers, carried out a raid to capture a top illegal armed group commander directing widespread death squad activity throughout eastern Baghdad,’ the military said in a statement. Al Maliki, who is commander in chief of Iraq’s army, heatedly denied he knew anything about the raid: “We will ask for clarification about what has happened in Sadr City. We will review this issue with the multinational forces so that it will not be repeated. ...The Iraqi government should be aware and part of any military operation. Coordination is needed between Iraqi government and multinational forces.”

[EXCERPT] Also Wednesday, the military said it was continuing a search for a US Army translator missing after he was believed to have been kidnapped Monday night in Baghdad. Troops had detained some suspects who could possibly be involved,’ said a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington.