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A suicide bombing killed six people in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, on Wednesday. |
ANBAR — Many in the Western province of Anbar, usually touted as example of the US success in Iraq, fear the return of warfare to their once blood-stained province after the redeployment of US troops outside cities and towns.
"Now after the US pullout, people are scared that resistance groups might come back to the region and provoke an eruption of violence," Wassim Dawood, a political expert and a resident of the province, told IslamOnline.net.
Last month, the US troops redeployed outside cities and towns in accordance with a security agreement with the Iraqi government signed in November.
Many in Anbar, which used to be a stronghold of Sunni resistance groups, fear an outburst of violence.
A suicide car bombing targeting a police checkpoint in the center of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, killed six people, including two traffic policemen, on Wednesday, July 15.
The attack came one day after two policemen in the city were killed in a battle with gunmen.
"I have started to look for a place to rent in a Baghdad suburb," one resident told IOL, requesting anonymity.
Ahmed al-Shammar, who is working for a local NGO, say fears are rising among other residents.
"We have been in touch with locals who have visited us asking for possible help to leave the province," he told IOL.
"Of course it isn’t a specific problem for Anbar but for all Iraq.
"Nevertheless, our governorate is a very volatile region and has a short past of violence, displacement and deadly attacks."
In June, two separate attacks occurred in Fallujah, the other major city in Anbar, killing one US marine and at least thee Iraqi police.
Anbar has been relatively quiet over the past two years, partly due to the alliance of some Sunni tribal groups with US-led forces to take on Qaeda-affiliated groups.
Comeback
Some say Sunni groups -- which have battled the US forces for years after the 2003 invasion – are planning a comeback to Anbar.
Dawood, the political expert, says fighters from different groups are becoming back.
He argues that the fighters are moving into the region in a low speed, and their weapons are being transported through the desert.
The resident, who declined to be named, said he was personally approached by his cousins who are members of one such group.
"I was surprised when one of them came at my home asking me if I had any interest in joining the resistance group," he told IOL.
"He told me that many residents, who aren’t happy with Iraqi Army behaviors, are keen to work with them and their houses are being used as deposit of weapons," he added.
"If the Iraqi security forces discover that my cousins are back to Anbar… I will be considered a fighter too."
But the authorities insist that people have no reason to fear.
"Security is very improved and residents shouldn’t fear resistance invasion of the governorate," Major Adullah Seif Mashadany, a member of the battalion providing security in Anbar, told IOL.
"Some people might return, but not their weapons."
Mashadany added that the authorities are already trying to assure residents that they need not to be scared.
"We understand that locals might feel confused and scared but they have to help us in protecting them by anonymously denouncing any strange or dangerous activities they come across."
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