The Iraqi Army has entered the militant stronghold of Duwanim, Slogger’s eyewitness sources have confirmed. The rural district falls just to the southwest of the urbanized areas of Baghdad and is known as a base of operations of armed Sunni groups, especially the Omar Brigades and al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, the al-Qa'ida affiliated organization.

One Slogger source referred to Duwanim as “the most dangerous place” in the Baghdad area. (On a day when at least 60 Iraqis were killed in multiple bomb attacks in Sha'b, this may be a difficult distinction to arbitrate.)

In fact, sources report that Duwanim and the areas around it were so dangerous to Iraqi forces, that they typically would not enter the area, nor perform operations in adjacent nieghborhoods without coordination and support from the Mahdi Army.

The entrance of forces entrance into the Duwanim area is highly significant. Until now, the lawless district was a theater of open conflict and deadly raids between the Mahdi Army and armed Sunni groups. As reported earlier, Iraqi forces have not entered the area for a year.

The rural setting of Duwanim has been a formidable base for Sunni militant groups, who have received support from local tribes such as the al-Kurtan and al-Dahamsha, who have even taken up arms in support of the militant groups when necessary. In addition, the fields and vegetation of the area have provided a difficult environment for the Iraqi or US forces to penetrate and hold.

Slogger sources also report that a large part of the population in the area had been employed in nearby presidential installations during the old regime, and after the fall of the regime many were organized by the Ba'thist underground to support the resistance against the US and the new Iraqi government.

The Mahdi Army have a strong presence in some neighboring urbanized areas, such as parts of the predominantly Shi'a districts of al-Shurta and al-Risala. In certain Shi'a mosques in these districts, the Mahdi Army conducts its affairs, ranging from organizational meetings to the detention of suspected Sunni militants, with sources reporting rumors of torture and killing of suspects inside some religious facilities.

From their respective bases -- the Mahdi Army, in parts of al-Shurta and al-Risala, and the Sunni militants in Duwanim and neighboring areas -- the two militant forces have been involved in a long-festering struggle for dominance in nearby districts, such as Muwasalat and al-Ray, with each side conducting kidnapping or assassination raids into the other group’s territory. Local residents report that the Iraqi government had done little to intervene.

In the operations that the Iraqi security forces did undertake, Slogger sources report that the National Guard has relied heavily on Mahdi Army fighters for information and armed escort when operating in Muwasalat and al-Ray districts. Such cooperation is of course illegal, but Slogger sources report it is not uncommon -- when Iraqi forces would operate in these areas at all.

As such, it is highly noteworthy that Iraqi forces have begun to assault the Duwanim area, which has served as the base of Sunni militancy in a large area of Baghdad.

Details have not emerged about the nature of any fighting in the area related to the Iraqi Army’s latest incursion, nor the response from any militant groups.