The hands of an Iraqi woman reaches for the sides of a truck in an effort to make herself noticed as Iraqi Army 42nd Brigade, 11th Division Soldiers distribute food, water, and medical supplies, in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, on May 8, 2008, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)

North of downtown Baghdad, Iraq lies Sadr City and several other neighboring districts, predominantly shiite and impoverished. A recent lull in fighting between militias, and US and Iraqi armed forces has allowed security forces and aid supplies to return to the area. The truce remains tenuous, as a car bomb detonated yesterday in a crowded market, killing more than 50 Iraqis. Here are some images of daily life in and around Sadr City, Baghdad over the past several weeks. ( 16 photos total



A U.S. Soldier of 1-6 battalion, 2nd brigade, 1st Army Division, patrols near the wall in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, June 9, 2008. The 12-foot concrete barrier is has been built along a main street dividing southern Sadr city from north and it is about 5 kilometers, (3.1 miles) long. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



Iraqi Muslims cup their hands during Friday noon prayers at the Kadhim Mosque in the Shiite Muslim district of Kadhimiya in Baghdad on June 13, 2008. Iraq's hardline Shiite leader Moqtada al- Sadr on June 13 said he plans to form a new armed group to fight US forces in Iraq. (AFP/ALI AL-SAADI)



U.S. Soldiers of 1-6 battalion, 2nd brigade, 1st Armored Division secure the area as a Shiite woman with her baby waits to receive aid distributed by Iraqi government in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



Iraqi soccer fans celebrate Iraq's win over China in the Asia 2010 World Cup qualifying match as they gather in a cafe in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, June 14, 2008. Iraq ousted China from World Cup qualifying with a 2-1 victory Saturday. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)



U.S. Soldiers of 1-6 battalion, 2nd brigade, 1st Armored Division, patrol in Jamilah market in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday , June 10, 2008 .(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



An Iraqi soldier from the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division passes through an opening in a door that was blown open during a search of an abandoned warehouse in the Thawra 1 neighborhood of the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq, June 5, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)



Weapons seized by Iraqi security forces during recent operations in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City are displayed at the 9th Iraqi Army Division headquarters on, June 18, 2008 in southeastern Baghdad, Iraq. Baghdad yesterday suffered the worst loss of life for three months after a car bomb detonated in al-Hurriyah Shiite district, killing over 50 people. (Khalid Mohammed - Pool/Getty Images)



A young girl rests at Kazimiyah hospital, after being wounded in a car bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The bomb ripped through a busy commercial street in a Shiite area of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 51 people and wounding scores more in the deadliest blast in the capital in more than three months. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)



A U.S. Soldier from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 6th Infantry Division, assigned to Task Force Regulars receives a lift from an Iraqi boy and his mule on Route Douglas in the Jameela Market in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq, May 31, 2008. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)



A U.S. soldier makes a retina scan of an Iraqi man in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, June 9, 2008. About 270 Iraqi men from 18-35 years old, filled applications and made background checks as they were registered for "Neighborhood guards". Neighborhood guards are going to be used as guards in check points in Sadr city. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



Iraqi shiite women wait outside the Al Rasheed Bank, in Jamilah market in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday , June 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



Children jump and run as Iraqi troops from the 11th Brigade arrives in their neighborhood to distribute food rations in the impoverished Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad on May 25, 2008. Iraqi troops poured into the Baghdad Shiite bastion of Sadr City three days ago for the first time in eight weeks, without resistance from militias who have fought deadly street battles with US forces. (ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images)



A boy carrying plastic toy weapons approaches a U.S. Soldier of 1-6 battalion, 2nd brigade, 1st Armored Division patrols in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, June 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)



Sgt. Kyle Hale of Yukon, Okla., 1-6 battalion, 2nd brigade, 1st Armored Division, hits a man as he contains an unruly crowd to protect another man who was nearly trampled, outside the Al Rasheed Bank in the Jamilah market in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, June 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

More links and information:

U.S. Blames Shi'ite Group For Baghdad Bomb NYTimes.com 6/18

Iraq NYTimes.com Topic page

Sadr City NYTimes.com Topic page