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In Baghdad’s western al-Jami'a district, Sunni militants controlling the district have issued a decree that every family in the area owning two or more cars should donate one car to the mujahidin, residents told IraqSlogger.
Meanwhile, locals observed the tactics of the powerful Mahdi Army as it ambushes US forces in Bahgdad's streets, and children in the impoverished Sadr City now use their old soccer field to scavenge scrap metal from exploded ordinance.
Around the Iraqi capital, exclusive eyewitnesses to the turbulent events of the Baghdad summer told Slogger what they've seen in recent days.
In al-Jami'a, in addition to the demand that resients cede their extra vehicles to the militants, there are also rumors that single women in the predominantly Sunni district will be forced to marry a “mujahid,” that is one of the extremist Sunni militants that have taken control of the area.
Slogger’s staff in Iraq points out that a similar order was handed down in Falluja two years ago when the Majlis Shoura al-Mujahidin (Mujahadin Consultative Council) declared that single girls in the city must wed Arab suicide bombers, even days before the men conducted their final operations.
Falluja’s residents fiercely opposed the order, and 'Abdullah al-Janabi, the leader of the council at that time, was made to reverse the policy.
Mahdi Army ambush
The Mahdi Army, loyal to the Sadrist current, led by the Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, has developed a pattern of strategic operations against US forces in Baghdad’s narrow streets.
The Shi'a militia will launch surprise attacks against the Americans when they enter the smaller roads and alleyways in the areas under Mahdi Army influence.
The Sadrist militiamen often refrain from attacks against US forces in the wider open roads, where US forces may have a stronger hand.
The Americans broke that arrangement two days ago, entering the small roads in the residential areas of the eastern al-Ubaidi district, residents report. Mahdi Army militiamen ambushed the US force, killing one American soldier.
The gunmen had already stolen away as the Americans blocked the area and began shooting arbitrarily, Slogger’s sources say.
Such a strategy hinders US forces from penetrating dense urban areas under Mahdi Army control, and allows the militia to even the odds against superior US firepower.
Mahdi Army members were also observed in Baghdad’s lawless southwestern Hay al-'Amil dumping three men’s bodies in an open field. Residents of al-'Amil have used the field as a refuse heap as municipal services have broken down.
Also in Baghdad’s southwestern area, snipers, presumably Sunni extremists in neighboring areas, still fire on the large open market in the predominantly Shi'a Bayya' district. Three people were killed during the last several days, locals told Slogger.
Checkpoint confrontation
Iraqi officers at a security checkpoint in the Bab al-Mu'adham area tried to stop two cars that were traveling on the wrong side of the road. The two cars apparently belonged to an important Iraqi political party.
The checkpoint officer tried to speak with the men in the two offending vehicles but the men’s bodyguards struck him, prompting the soldiers staffing the checkpoint to fire warning shots. No one was injured by the gunfire, but the two cars apparently called for backup.
A detachment of vehicles roared into the central Baghdad district, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and surrounded the checkpoint. The squadron included four ambulances filled with gunmen, their rifles pointed at the Iraqi forces manning the checkpoint.
The standoff was defused when the checkpoint officer apologized to the men, and the convoy departed.
Local sources could not identify the affiliation of the men, although the ambulances suggest that they may be related to the Sadrist current, which formerly controlled the ministry of health.
Scavengers of war
In Sadr City, near the Sadda area, US helicopters train daily in a soccer field, dropping ordinance on imaginary ground targets.
Local children, who used to play soccer on the football pitch before it was commandeered by US forces for their maneuvers, wait every day for the operations every day from the early morning, in order to scavenge empty shells to sell them to local brass factories as scrap.
Expensive ice blocks
The price of ice blocks, a Baghdad summer staple, has reached 8,000 Iraqi dinars, the equivalent of over 6 dollars, for a single block.
Some residents suspect price gouging on the part of ice manufacturers in the high summer temperatures. The mercury hit 113 degrees (F) on Thursday.
The ice factories say that the high prices are caused by the high prices of fuel in the city.
