Petraeus works to halt foreign fighters.

US, Iraqi troops prepare the battlefield in Sadr City - The Long War Journal

US, Iraqi troops prepare the battlefield in Sadr City
By Bill RoggioApril 12, 2008 9:53 PM

Three weeks after the Iraqi government initiated Operation Knights Assault in Basrah, US and Iraqi forces have squared off against the Mahdi Army daily in the Shia slums of Sadr City. Additional US and Iraqi forces have moved into northeastern Baghdad to prepare for a possible major engagement against the Mahdi Army.

While Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist political movement, called for his fighters to pull off the streets on March 30, the Mahdi Army has continued to attack US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City and northeastern Baghdad. The Mahdi Army began seeding the streets of Sadr City with roadside bombs just days after Sadr declared the unilateral ceasefire. "Outlaw groups have planted roadside bombs and other explosives in most of the streets of Sadr City," the Baghdad Operational Command reported.

Fighting erupts in Sadr City after Sadr aide killed - The Long War Journal

Fighting erupts in Sadr City after Sadr aide killed
By Bill RoggioApril 11, 2008 10:00 PM

Clashes between the Mahdi Army and US and Iraqi forces broke out in Sadr City in Baghdad late Friday after a senior aide to Muqtada al Sadr was murdered in the city of Najaf. US and Iraqi forces confirmed killing 13 Mahdi Army fighters in eastern Baghdad after a series of complex attacks.

The latest bout of fighting in the Mahdi Army strongholds in eastern Baghdad began after Riyad al Nouri was murdered by gunmen outside his home in Najaf. Nouri was in charge of Sadr's office in Najaf and was also Sadr's brother-in-law. Sadr immediately accused "the hands of the occupiers and their tails," referring to the Iraqi government, of conducting the attack. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki immediately condemned the killing.