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Last Modified: 15 Mar 2007
By: Channel 4 News

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.