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Iraqi security forces, backed by air support, are continuing their wide-scale military operations against al-Qaeda strongholds in the desert areas of Anbar province extending to the Syrian and Jordanian borders.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Jan. 6 called on the residents and tribes of Fallujah, which had fallen under al-Qaeda's control, to expel the “terrorists” from their city to avoid “armed confrontations” in the streets. Meanwhile, the clans and dignitaries in Anbar are insisting on the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from the province’s cities and reliance instead on tribal militants and local police to rid them of al-Qaeda.
