IRAQ: Security forces work on purging armed groups from Sunni area

Members of the Awakening Council (AC) deployed in the Sunni northern neighbourhood of al-Adhamiya on Tuesday (November 13), securing part of the area and working on returning normal life to the area. Residents of al-Adhamiya neighbourhood said the area was secure now due to the efforts of the members of the armed group set up by local sheikhs and overseen by the Iraqi government forces. "The situation is normal in Adhamiya due to the efforts of the Adhamiya revolutionists. God bless all those who worked on bringing peace and stability to the al-Adhamiya. Shops have been opened and we also have returned back to our houses," said a woman from al-Adhamiya neighbourhood. Adhamiya neighbourhood is mainly Sunni area and a stronghold of Saddam Hussein supporters, where insurgents used to launch frequent attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces. Awakening Councils have sprung up across Iraq, structured on the lines of the Anbar Awakening Council formed by Sunni tribal sheikhs in the western Iraqi province of Anbar to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq group. Iraqi security forces and members of the AC said they will continue their military operations until they purge all the neighbourhood of armed groups. "We are Adhamiya revolutionists. We have saved people from killers. The area is secured now and all Muslims, Sunnis and Shi'ites can came to it. Thank God, we have secured the area and we will work on purging the Camp (area near Adhamiya)," said one member of the AC.

ITN Source | November 14, 2007

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