Sadr city residents told to evacuate

(What’s the significance of this evacuation?) Everyone is anticipating that there is going to be a concerted push by Iraqi forces backed by US forces to try to penetrate two particular neighborhoods of Sadr City, areas that are quite close to the Green Zone and recently Shiite militias have been firing mortars into the Green Zone. So authorities have issued leaflets into these areas suggesting that people should leave the area, that they shouldn’t be dealing with militiamen hiding amongst them. And they’ve been saying all along that these militiamen have been using civilians as shields. (The evacuation is voluntary but what would the government of Iraq do with 2 million people if they were to leave the area?) 2 million people would be difficult to deal with, I think the government is anticipating a couple thousand people, not the whole of Sadr City, and they’ve set aside two soccer stadiums outside of Sadr City to take these evacuees. The authorities have food and water supplies on hand to deal with that. There are many such shortages in Sadr City itself anyway. Some aid agencies have suggested this week that because people cannot freely move in Sadr City, because of roads laced with IEDs and mortars and sniping, people cannot get fresh food and the hospitals are having trouble providing medical help when needed. (How many Sadrists are in this slum compared to civilians and how is the militia responding?) It’s a good question but no one knows. Sadr’s militia strength is estimated to be around 50-60,000. it’s highly unlikely that all those fighters are in Sadr City. One estimate puts the number at around 5-10,000.