FOR THOSE STILL CONFUSED ABOUT THE BATTLE LINES:

A Mosque Raid Sets Off Sunnis in Iraq’s Capital (ALISSA J. RUBIN, 4/11/07, NY Times)

The confrontation in Fadhil pit Iraqi security forces, backed by American soldiers, against armed militants backed by local residents.

The largely Sunni Arab neighborhood of Fadhil is on the predominantly Shiite eastern side of Baghdad. Shiite militias had tried to dominate the neighborhood and surrounding area starting more than a year ago.

In response, residents of Fadhil organized a local guard patrol. But insurgents came into the area and, following a pattern seen throughout Sunni Arab areas of Baghdad, the neighborhood patrol gradually merged with the insurgency.

Now many people, including most journalists, avoid the Fadhil area because they fear the Sunni insurgents operating there. The residents contacted for this article were reached by phone, both because the neighborhood is dangerous and because areas of fighting are routinely sealed off by the military.

Fighting began Tuesday just past dawn, when the Iraqis and the Americans cordoned off part of the neighborhood and began searching for militants, according to local residents and the American military in a written statement.

Meanwhile, the surge went off without a hitch in Sadr City.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 11, 2007 9:02 AM