Word: strongholds
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...with fighters from the Mahdi Army militia led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. For weeks gun battles and air strikes came almost every day in Sadr City as soldiers and militiamen faced off in a stalemated battle at the edge of the district, which is the Mahdi Army's stronghold. A hastily arranged truce between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sadr halted the fighting last week. Under the agreement, Iraqi forces are now allowed to enter Sadr City to pursue any so-called rogue militia cells not following the cease-fire and to conduct searches for heavy weapons...
Perhaps some Iraqi and American commanders hoped for an Alamo scene in Mosul, the guerrilla movement's last urban stronghold in Iraq. But it appears the insurgents have decided to melt away rather than take part in the "decisive battle" Maliki vowed to unleash months ago when Mosul reemerged as an insurgent haven...
...Over the past six months, Chalabi has focused a lot of attention on delivering services to Sadr City, the northeast Baghdad Shi'ite slum that is a major stronghold of the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. To do this required close coordination with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has over the past month been locked in fierce battles with U.S. and Iraqi government forces. The U.S. alleges that elements of the Mahdi Army have received training and weapons from Iran. "We talk to the Madhi Army," says Chalabi spokesman Mohammad Hassan al-Moussawi, "because the Madhi Army...
...Druze are legendary for their ferocity in defending their traditional mountain stronghold in the Chouf. It was reported that some Druze supporters of the Hizballah coalition even switched sides in the battles to join Jumblatt's men against the Shi'ites of Hizballah - politics suddenly taking a backseat to deeper feelings of loyalty to the clan and sect and unity against the outsider. "We are believers in peace and co-existence, but we will not accept any aggression against us," said Shawki Zeidan, a veteran Druze militia commander who led some 300 fighters against Hizballah on a 6,000-foot...
...Iraqi forces working with U.S. troops were signaling plans for a new push to break from areas where they had remained stuck for weeks. Details of the cease-fire remain largely unclear beyond an immediate end to the battles that have displaced thousands of residents from the Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City, a vast slum home to more than 2 million people...