The Iraqi Army built a base in the outdoor space where 7,000 Sadr City residents pray every Friday.
This Friday, they posted snipers on rooftops and checkpoints around the mosque.
The Jeish al Mehdi tried to keep worshipers from confronting the soldiers.

Project

"Iraq: Death of a Nation" examines how the U.S. invasion and occupation created a multi-faceted civil war in which the U.S. is now actively arming multiple factions. Last summer, the project focused on how Iraq's refugee crisis was created by the invasion and the fighting that has followed.
April 9, 2010 / Untold Stories
David Enders
David Enders, for the Pulitzer Center