Militias thrive in Iraq's civil war
Updated on 15 March 2007
Despite the recent US troop surge, neither the Americans nor the Iraqi regime enjoy popular support in Baghdad's sectarian enclaves.
Iraq is in a state of civil war. The Pentagon has admitted it for the first time with a new report revealing violence in the country has now reached a new high.
Officials say a struggle for power between sectarian groups is now the main feature of the conflict.
The Americans are confident that their massive security crackdown has begun to reduce that violence - at least in Baghdad.
But a closer look at two sectarian strongholds - Sunni Adhamiya and the Shia suburb of Sadr City - shows few signs that the US army and the Iraqi regime have much popular support.
