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Article: Sadr army owns city's streets; Our reporter follows the Mahdi Army as it patrols Sadr City, home to 1 in 10 Iraqi voters.(WORLD)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- August 4, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Dan Murphy Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
SADR CITY, IRAQ -- Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army rarely engages US forces anymore. Hundreds of his men were killed in clashes with the US in April and by June, the militant Shiite cleric had declared an informal truce that prevails to this day.
Despite occasional clashes, including a firefight between marines and Sadr's bodyguards on Monday outside his home in the shrine city of Najaf, senior US commanders believe their April counteroffensive decisively crushed his insurgency.
But that doesn't mean Sadr and his militia have lost influence. In recent months, the Mahdi Army has ...