Iraq: Fighters urged to go as supplies run short
Source: AP-EXCITE
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and ADAM SCHRECK
BAGHDAD (AP) - Tribal leaders in the besieged city of Fallujah warned al-Qaida-linked fighters to leave to avoid a military showdown, echoing a call by Iraq's prime minister Wednesday that they give up their fight as the government pushes to regain control of mainly Sunni areas west of Baghdad.
The warning came as gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, killing 12 soldiers. Seven soldiers were wounded in the assault in Diyala province, authorities said.
The United Nations and the Red Cross, meanwhile, said Fallujah and nearby areas are facing mounting humanitarian concerns as food and water supplies start to run out.
Sectarian tensions have been on the rise for months in Sunni-dominated Anbar province as minority Sunnis protested what they perceive as discrimination and random arrests by the Shiite-led government. Violence spiked after the Dec. 28 arrest of a Sunni lawmaker sought on terrorism charges and the government's dismantling of a year-old anti-government Sunni protest camp in the provincial capital of Ramadi.
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Mourners carry the coffin of Yazn Jassim Mohammed, 24, who was killed when clashes erupted between al-Qaida gunmen and Iraqi army soldiers on Tuesday, his family said, during his funeral in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged al-Qaida-linked fighters who have overrun two cities west of Baghdad to give up the battle, vowing Wednesday to press forward with a push to regain control of the mainly Sunni areas. (AP Photo)
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