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Article: 19 Tense Hours in Sadr City Alongside the Mahdi Army; After Calm Year, Fighting Engulfs Shiite Enclave
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 29, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The gunfire struck like thunderclaps, building to a steady
rhythm. American soldiers in a Stryker armored vehicle fired away
from one end of the block. At the other end, two groups of Shiite
militiamen pounded back with heavy machine guns and rocket-
propelled grenades. American helicopters circled above in the blue
afternoon sky.
As a heavy barrage erupted outside his parents' house, Abu
Mustafa al-Thahabi, a political and military adviser to the Mahdi
Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, rushed through the purple
gate and took shelter behind the thick walls. He had just spoken
with a fighter by cellphone. "I told him not to use that weapon.
It's not effective," he said, referring to a ...