Location:
Sadr City, part of Baghdad province, is separated from most of Iraq's capital by a canal. The neighborhood was called Saddam City during the previous regime, but ironically its 2 million people, mostly poor Shiite Muslims, received little in the way of public improvements while other areas of the capital benefited from Saddam's rule. As its streets deteriorated, Sadr City became a dirty slum, a hotbed of activism, and a perilous place to enter.
In May of 2004, men in Sadr City took up arms in an organized uprising against the US-led invasion of Iraq. The rebel militia was loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, son of the revered Shiite Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, for whom Sadr City is named.
Today, Sadr City, with as many as 2 million people, continues to be a poor, urban slum devoted to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr's al- Mahdi militia rules the region with an iron fist, committing acts of violence against US forces deployed to Sadr City, and any non-compliant residents. Anonymous attacks, public executions and torture are all employed within the treacherous city limits.
