Iraqi Women Take On Roles Of Dead or Missing Husbands

Instead of turning back, the women ran toward the base until soldiers pulled them away. As they left, dejected, she noticed that one of the soldiers was weeping.

Abdul Sattar confirmed Abadi's account but denied that his men had fired their weapons.

Days later, soldiers placed waist-high yellow cement blocks around the former Baath Party building. They cut off the power and knifed the water tanks, residents said.

Abadi never used her AK-47 to defend her building. Iraqi soldiers confiscated it.

She later noted, in a moment of levity, that she had fired it only once, when a stray cat sneaked into her room at night, making her think an intruder had broken in.

Days after the yellow blocks were laid, a thicker wall was built around them and concertina wire was fixed on the roof. Soldiers told the residents that the men would be arrested if they didn't leave, Abadi said.

The Mahdi Army member in the building warned soldiers the militia would retaliate, Abdul Sattar said.

The residents decided that the men should leave, at least temporarily, thinking that the women might be better suited to stave off eviction.

But soldiers rolled in on Friday and took over the building. One by one, the families left. Some called relatives and asked for shelter.

Abadi moved in with her brother and his wife in Amin district, in eastern Baghdad, where they share a room. She is looking for a new place to stay. Amin is far more dangerous than Zayouna, she said, and her two sons now have longer commutes to class.

An Iraqi army convoy driving toward the former Baath Party building was attacked with a roadside bomb over the weekend, Abdul Sattar said. He said it had probably been placed in retaliation for the eviction.

When Abadi heard about the bomb, she asked whether it had killed anyone. "Thank God," she said, upon learning that no soldiers had been hurt. "They follow orders. They have not done anything wrong."

Special correspondents Naseer Nouri, Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan and other Washington Post staff contributed to this report.