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Anbar in crisis amidst withering al-Qaida offensive

Exploiting the porous borders and vast desert of Iraq's biggest province, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is waging an ambitious battle for control of Anbar.
At a funeral in Najaf, on April 28, 2013, relatives carry the coffin of an Iraqi soldier killed by militants in Anbar province. (HAIDER ALA/Reuters)

FALLUJAH - A sniper has assassinated Adnan Hussein, the mayor of Fallujah, and several attacks have killed police officers at their checkpoints, offices and homes throughout the city – the latest violence in a major al-Qaida offensive that has plunged Anbar province into a worsening security crisis.

In the past four weeks, al-Qaida-affiliated militants have launched an intense wave of attacks on government buildings, security forces, and civilians, both in the remote desert along the Syrian border and in Anbar's major cities. Dozens of local leaders, police officials, and security forces have died.

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