Iraqi forces enter Suleiman Bek town after gunmen leave

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Smoke billows from a destroyed makeshift camp at a public square in Hawija, near Kirkuk, 170 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, April 23, 2013. (Reuters)

Iraqi security forces began moving back into a northern town on Friday after gunmen who seized it two days ago made an agreed withdrawal, officials said.

The gunmen pulled out of Sulaiman Bek in Salaheddin province early in the day under a deal worked out by tribal chiefs and government officials, local official Shalal Abdul Baban and municipal council deputy chief Ahmed Aziz told AFP.

The gunmen swarmed into the predominantly Sunni Turkmen town on Wednesday after deadly clashes with the security forces, who pulled back in the face of the offensive as residents fled.

Army Staff General Ali Ghaidan Majeed told AFP on Thursday that the gunmen had been given 48 hours to withdraw or face attack.

Majeed said at the time that intelligence information indicated there were about 175 gunmen in Sulaiman Bek -- 25 allegedly from Al-Qaeda, and 150 from the Naqshbandiya Army, another Sunni militant group.

The gunmen's seizure of Sulaiman Bek came during a bloody wave of violence that killed more than 180 people in three days.

Escalating conditions

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Malki urged citizens in a televised statement to avoid dropping in sectarian rifts that would drag the country into civil war.

The statement came as residents of a number of Sunni cities in Iraq have announced on Thursday the formation of "military forces" to counter attack the Iraqi army and its crackdown against protesters calling for Maliki – a Shiite – to step down, Al Arabiya's correspondent said.

The military raid launched last Tuesday targeted a Sunni Muslim anti-government protest at a camp in Hawija, near Kirkuk. The act prompted Sunni tribesmen to gear up against the government.
The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that erupted in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago.
 

26 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/26/Iraqi-forces-enter-Suleiman-Bek-town-after-gunmen-leave-.html
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