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Al-Qaeda-Linked Militants Battle Back In Iraq; Iran Offers Support


Iraqis inspect the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad, on January 14.
Iraqis inspect the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad, on January 14.
RAMADI, Iraq -- Al-Qaeda-linked militants have destroyed two tanks and captured some police stations in clashes in the central Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.

The insurgents retook the Thubbat police station in Ramadi and control the southern part of the city, as security forces and some Sunni tribesmen battled Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents and other Sunni tribesmen in several areas of Anbar Province.

Fighting forced more than 800 families to take refuge in about 15 schools.

Conditions in the schools are reportedly poor and there are shortages of food and fuel.

The militants destroyed two Iraqi tanks while blowing up a highway bridge near Saqlawiya, north of Fallujah, Reuters reports.

In western Anbar, Iraq's military said it killed eight gunmen belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant near the Trebil border crossing.

In Baghdad, at least eight people were reported killed, including Muttar Hussein, a judge on Iraq's Higher Judicial Council.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Baghdad that Tehran supported "Iraq in its war against terrorism."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

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