Clashes in Iraq's Ramadi enter third day

Clashes in Iraq's Ramadi enter third day
Wed Jan 1, 2014 17:34:58

Iraqi security forces have clashed sporadically with militants who burned four police stations in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, an AFP journalist says.

The journalist saw four torched police stations in the city on Wednesday, one of which was still on fire and said two military vehicles had also been burned.

Clashes broke out in the Ramadi area on Monday as security forces dismantled the country's main Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp, which was located on a nearby highway.

At least 14 people, all but one of them militants, died in violence in the area on Monday and Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday Iraqi troops would pull out of cities in Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, in a move apparently aimed at defusing high tensions in the wake of the camp's closure.

The withdrawal was one of the demands that 44 Iraqi MPs made on Monday during a news conference where they announced they had submitted their resignations.

In another move apparently aimed at placating Anbar residents, the cabinet decided on Tuesday to provide aid to the province.

The oil, trade and health ministries were to provide food, fuel and medical items, and other ministries would also give "support and necessary services to Anbar province," the cabinet said.

The removal of the camp was a victory of sorts for Maliki, who had long wanted it gone and had termed it a "headquarters for the leadership of al-Qaeda."

HH/HH

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