US and Iraqi forces build wall through Sadr City

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"BAGHDAD: US and Iraqi forces are building a concrete wall through the Baghdad Shia militia stronghold of Sadr City in a bid to stop militiamen firing rockets at the compound that houses the Iraqi government and the US embassy, the military said on Saturday.

Fresh clashes in Sadr City overnight killed at least 13 people and wounded 80, medics and witnesses said on Saturday.

The wall, of varying height, is being constructed along the main road dividing the southern side of Sadr City from the north of the sprawling district, home to some two million people. The barrier of cement blocks, some up to three metres (12 feet) high, “will enclose the neighbourhood (the southern section) in order to control access in and out of the area,” US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover told AFP.

Stover said the plan was initiated by the Iraqi government. “We don’t operate independently. “He said the wall was intended to prevent the “indiscriminate rocket fire” coming from Sadr City. The US military says rocket fire from Sadr city is aimed at the heavily fortified Green Zone compound that houses Iraqi government offices and the US embassy."

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
 
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