2006
March:
- US and Iraqi forces kill at least 20 people in a raid on a mosque in Baghdad, where loyalists to Muqtada al-Sadr are conducting operations.
- 44 people are killed and more than 200 wounded when car bombs and mortars blast through two busy market areas in Sadr City.
July:
- British troops locate and capture the commander of Basra’s Mahdi Army forces.
- American and Iraqi troops storm a building in Sadr City, sparking a three-hour firefight that kills and injures 30 to 40 gunmen. One Mahdi Army commander is captured in the battle.
- A suicide bombing in Sadr City ignites a wave of reprisal killings against Sunnis.
- More than 60 people are killed and another 100 wounded when a truck bomb detonates in a popular Sadr City marketplace.
- Eight people are killed and 20 are injured when an IED is detonated outside a municipal building in Sadr City.
August:
- Citizens reach out to the Mahdi Army and other militias to take over security operations after a suicide bombing in Najaf kills more than 150 people.
- Americans call for ground forces and aerial bombings throughout Sadr City after troops are attacked while searching for torture cells.
- More than 10,000 US and Iraqi troops begin movement into Baghdad to reinforce the 52,000 Iraqi and US troops already stationed there. The offensive is designed to free the local populace from the grip of al-Sadr’s death squads and quell the rampant violence.
- A roadside bomb allegedly planted by the Mahdi Army, aimed at a senior Eighth Division officer, kills two Iraqi soldiers.
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