IRAQ: Militants who have seized the Iraqi city of Falluja say they will "punish" those supporting the government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

Record ID: 564838

  • Title: IRAQ: Militants who have seized the Iraqi city of Falluja say they will "punish" those supporting the government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
  • Date: 6th January 2014
  • Summary: FALLUJA, IRAQ (JANUARY 6, 2014) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF MASKED MILITANTS GETTING OUT FROM A BIG HOLE IN HOUSE, BRANDISHING GUNS MILITANTS RUNNING MASKED MILITANTS HOLDING ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE (RPG) MASKED MILITANTS STANDING AND BRANDISHING GUNS AND RPG MASKED MILITANTS HOLDING GUNS AND SHOUTING "GOD IS GREAT" MILITANTS RUNNING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF FALLUJA MILITARY COUNCIL, SAYING: "The revolutionaries of our tribes in Falluja have resolved to punish the tribesmen who support the sectarian government forces, and to join the military council. The revolutionaries are also determined to shoulder the responsibility of foiling the filthy scheme run by government.'' VARIOUS OF DAMAGED MOSQUE AND MILITANTS HOLDING GUN HOLY KORAN ON MOSQUE'S FLOOR VARIOUS OF MOSQUE INTERIORS EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAUU783V6Z0YPJBB1MMMEPOD80
  • Story Text: With Iraqi government forces poised in strength outside the contested city of Falluja in Anbar province, masked militants said on Monday (January 6) that they will punish all those within its boundaries who support the government.
    After both Falluja and the nearby city of Ramadi came under assault by militants of al Qaeda's Islamist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant group (ISIL), the Shi'ite Muslim-led Baghdad government has had some success in working with local Sunni Muslim tribesmen to regain control of Ramadi.
    The Iraqi army was filmed sweeping through Ramadi's streets in strength on Sunday (January 5) battling ISIL snipers on rooftops.
    Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday urged people in Falluja to also drive out the insurgents there, to pre-empty a government military assault by forces outside the city.
    During the day, a group of militants in Falluja, brandishing guns and rocket propelled grenades, and calling themselves the Falluja Military Council read a statement.
    "The revolutionaries of our tribes in Falluja have resolved to punish the tribesmen who support the sectarian government forces, and to join the military council. The revolutionaries are also determined to shoulder the responsibility of foiling the filthy scheme run by government," one of the men from the group said.
    The role of the tribesmen in Sunni-dominated Anbar is crucial to control in the province. Tribesmen played a key role in the U.S.-led efforts to defeat insurgents in 2007, which dramatically changed Iraq's political and military landscape.
    The conflict in neighbouring Syria has led to increasing spillover to neighbour Iraq, reversing a decline in violence, which has ramped up further with the emergence of ISIL as a rebel group in Syria and now a major insurgent force in Iraq.
    ISIL has a declared aim of creating an Islamic state stretching across Iraq and Syria.
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