BAGHDAD
By Sawsan al-Qaiysi
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday ordered the army not to shell residential areas in the western city of Fallujah, where security forces are battling al-Qaeda-linked groups.
In a statement, al-Maliki called on Fallujah tribesmen and residents to "flush out the terrorists from their neighborhoods to avoid the dangers of armed confrontation."
Clashes erupted in the western Anbar province last week after government troops moved in to evict a months-old sit-in in Ramadi, the provincial capital, staged by Sunni tribesmen opposed to al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government.
The sit-in dispersal came two days after Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani, a prominent anti-Maliki protest organizer, was arrested in a raid on his Ramadi home by Iraqi forces. Six people were killed in the raid, including al-Alwani's brother.
Local tribesmen later expressed their support for local police against Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen who claimed that they had established control over the province's two main cities – Ramadi and Fallujah.
On Saturday, a security source said a female doctor was killed and 10 civilians, including children, were injured in artillery shelling of Fallujah.
Nearly 9,000 families have reportedly fled Fallujah because of the intensifying fighting and the lack of essential services like electricity and water.
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