Rebels Stronghold - Iraq

Nov 2004 It's a breeding ground for the armed Shiite opposition in Iraq. A place where government officials can no longer go and US soldiers come under daily attack. An American Humvee lies in flames, destroyed by a suicide bomber. Nearby a woman, blinded in the assault, begs for news of her mother. As people stop to help, snipers open fire, killing one Iraqi guardsman and wounding another. It's just one of five car bombings in Baghdad occurring on this day. Sadr city has become a war zone with US forces and their Iraqi National Guard allies fighting the Shiites. High levels of unemployment and a deterioration of living conditions have fuelled the insurgence. "I go out from the morning until the afternoon looking for work and I can't find it," complains Wassim. Like many residents, he's angry that the Americans have not delivered on their promises and has turned instead to Sadr's Mehdi army. "You have seen the rubbish on the streets. There is no water, the gutters are overflowing. Only the Mehdi army is cleaning it." With squalor and unemployment providing fertile grounds for insurgency groups, hopes of a peaceful resolution look slim.

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