The Occupation Wall in Baghdad

Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a 41-year-old engineer who lives in the area, said the wall would turn the district into a "prison".

He said: "They are going to punish all of us because of a few terrorists here and there."

"We are in our fourth year of occupation and we are seeing the number of walls increasing day after day, suffocating the people more and more."

US soldiers however jokingly call it the "Great Wall of Adhamiyah", they say it is more akin to the fenced suburbs around US cities.