Al-Qaeda-Linked Fighters Control Parts Of Two Iraq Cities

[Purveyor]

Source: Agence France-Presse

By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, January 2, 2014 7:09 EST

Al-Qaeda-linked militants were on Thursday in control of more than half of the Iraqi city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, a security official and witnesses said.

Violence first erupted on Monday when gunmen clashed with security forces as they tore down the country’s main Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp near Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

The clashes spread to Ramadi and then to Fallujah, where they continued for another two days.

Security forces have since withdrawn from some areas of the two cities in Anbar province, which were both once hubs of the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, giving the jihadists free rein.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/02/al-qaeda-linked-fighters-control-parts-of-two-iraq-cities/

[KansDem]

1. Didn't we kick Saddam's butt after he attacked us on 9/11?

I'm confused...

[Bluestar]

2. Well done, George W Bush, well done n/t

[cosmicone]

3. It won't be long

before another Sunni general takes over power from the wimpy democracy and becomes the new Saddam.

First thing on his agenda will be to acquire WMDs.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Kick (nt)

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. Militants make gains in Iraq city: police

Al-Qaeda-linked militants on Friday advanced into new areas of one major Iraqi city, as part of another remained outside the control of security forces, police said to AFP.

Districts of Ramadi and Fallujah west of Baghdad have been held by militants for days, harking back to the years after the 2003 US-led illegal invasion when both cities in Anbar province were insurgent strongholds.

Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) advanced in early morning clashes into areas in central Ramadi and deployed snipers on one street, a police captain said.

A police colonel said the army had re-entered areas of Fallujah, between Ramadi and Baghdad, but that a around a quarter of it remained under ISIL control.

Soldiers and armed tribesmen held the rest and had also surrounded the city, he said.

However, another senior officer, a police lieutenant colonel, said that while soldiers had deployed around the city they had yet to enter Fallujah.

The city was the target of two major assaults after the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq by the British and the Americans, in which American forces used depleted uranium shells and nearly flattened the city.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18098

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. 44 Iraqi MPs resign after protest camp cleared

Background on this particular flare-up from a few days ago:

Forty-four Iraqi MPs announced their resignation on Monday after security forces demolished an anti-government protest site and detained a lawmaker according to AFP.

The announcement was made at a televised news conference at which the MPs also demanded "the withdrawal of the army... and the release of MP Ahmed al-Alwani," who was arrested during a deadly raid on Saturday.

Clashes broke out Monday in the Ramadi area, west of Baghdad, as security forces dismantled a protest camp where demonstrators had gathered for more than a year.

Ten militants died in the fighting, which also spread to the nearby city of Fallujah.

Earlier, Iraqi forces battled militants in Fallujah on Monday as clashes spread to a second city after an anti-government protest camp was demolished, a police officer said.

The clashes erupted following deadly violence in nearby Ramadi, where security forces killed 13 in fighting that broke out as they demolished a camp where protesters had gathered for more than a year.

The camp has been an irritant to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government since protesters set it up a year ago to demonstrate against what they see as constant marginalization by the government.

Maliki, who is seeking a third term in April elections, has repeatedly vowed to remove the camp and accused protesters of stirring strife and sheltering al-Qaeda-linked militants.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-dismantles-anti-government-protest-site