US and Iraqi forces are building a concrete wall through the Baghdad Shiite militia bastion of Sadr City in a bid to stop militiamen firing rockets as fresh clashes in the district killed 13 people 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 of some two million people. The barrier of cement blocks, some up to three meters (12 feet) high, “will enclose the neighborhood (the southern section) in order to control access in and out of the area,” US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said. He said the wall was intended to prevent the “indiscriminate rocket fire” coming from Sadr City. The military says the rocket fire is aimed at the heavily fortified Green Zone compound that houses Iraqi government offices and the US embassy. Meanwhile, Iraqi soldiers swooped on the Basra stronghold of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr Saturday, saying they had seized control of his militia bastion where they suffered an embarrassing setback in late March. The dawn raid by government troops on the Hayaniya district of the southern oil city was backed by a thunderous bombardment by US warplanes and British artillery. Stover said construction of the barrier will not obstruct local residents. “The people, the law-abiding citizens of Iraq, and government emergency responder vehicles, can go in and out safely,” he said. “Terrorists have created this environment where security precautions and the protection of the people are paramount.” Iraqi and US forces have built hundreds of such concrete barriers across Baghdad in a bid to thwart attacks by Sunni insurgents or Shiite militiamen. __
