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Al-Qaeda Sets Sights On Iraq’s Anbar Province

As al-Qaeda-affiliated groups expand their activities throughout Iraq, some believe they are eyeing Anbar province, where a “huge battle” could unfold in the near future.
Relatives carry the coffin of an Iraqi police officer killed by militants during a funeral in Najaf, around 160 km (99 miles)
 south of Baghdad May 20, 2013. The attacks took place in the Sunni heartland of Anbar, where gunmen on Saturday ambushed and kidnapped 10 policemen near the provincial capital of Ramadi, and four members of a government-backed Sunni militia fighters were killed near Falluja city When Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed was at its height in 2006-07, Anbar, which shares a border with Syria, was i
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While the activities of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) — the regional faction of the international al-Qaeda organization — are expanding across the Iraqi map through bombings that are becoming ever more violent, Anbar province west of Baghdad is considered the most valuable location for various strategic considerations. Furthermore, it is expected that Anbar will serve as fertile ground for a real war in the next few months.

On Oct. 21, suicide bombers attempted to storm the security zone in Fallujah, which includes a police station and a number of governmental institutions.

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