Iraqi security forces fought hundreds of increasingly well-armed and equipped Al Qaeda militants in Fallujah and Ramadi.  Both cities are in western Anbar province, where Sunni militants have been growing more boisterous.

Police in Anbar say the militants seized several police stations and freed prisoners.  They also taunted the government, posting internet videos of themselves setting up checkpoints and burning government vehicles.  But the government troops were able to fight back with Hellfire rockets recently sent by the United States to help the government's fight against al-Qaida's Iraq branch, which also operates with increasing strength in Syria's civil war across the border.

Outside Anbar, a pickup truck laden with explosives blew up on a busy commercial street Thursday evening in the eastern city of Balad Ruz, 70 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, destroying several shops. At least 19 people were killed and 37 were wounded

The Sunni Arabs in Iraq claim the Shi’a government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is marginalizing them, a charge denied by Baghdad.  However, government troops arrested a Shi’a militia leader in what some see as an attempt to mollify the Sunni resentment.