________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk]
BAGHDAD: Sunni militants have seized another town in Iraq’s western Anbar province, the fourth to fall in two days, officials said on Sunday, in what is shaping up to be a major offensive in one of Iraq’s most restive regions.
The officials said the militants captured Rutba, about 150 kilometres east of the Jordanian border, late Saturday. Residents were on Sunday negotiating with the militants to leave after an army unit on the town’s outskirts threatened to start shelling.
The latest advance has dealt another blow to Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his political life even as forces beyond his control are pushing the country toward a sectarian showdown.
In a reflection of the bitter divide, thousands of heavily armed Shia militiamen eager to take on the Sunni insurgents marched through Iraqi cities in military-style parades Saturday on streets where many of them battled US forces a half decade ago.
The towns of Qaim, Rawah, Anah and Rutba are the first seized in predominantly Sunni Anbar province since fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant overran the city of Fallujah and parts of the provincial capital of Ramadi earlier this year.
The capture of Rawah on the Euphrates River and the nearby town of Anah appeared to be part of march toward a key dam in the city of Haditha, the destruction of which would damage the country’s electrical grid and cause major flooding.
The militants may use the remaining 39 Indian hostages as human shields in case of a military offensive by Iraqi or US authorities, the only person among the group to flee the captors has told government officials.
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