Ramadi under curfew after fierce clashes

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: A curfew was imposed on the city of Ramadi after fierce clashes that took place last night, during which eight persons were killed, a police source said on Friday. “Security authorities imposed a curfew throughout Ramadi after clashes between policemen and 10 fugitives during their transfer to the al-Fursan center in al-Andalus neighborhood at the center of the city,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “One of the prisoners seized a policeman’s weapon and killed four of them and then they fled, but later police forces raided them in a mosque and killed four of them,” he explained. “The forces still tracking down the rest of the fugitives,” he added. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, lies 110 km west of Baghdad. Anbar is the largest province in Iraq geographically. Encompassing much of the country’s western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Anbar is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Arab. Anbar’s main cities are Falluja, the capital Ramadi, Haditha, Hit, Aana and Rutba. The name of the province translates “granaries,” as this region was the primary entrepôt on the western borders of Lakhmid Kingdom. The province was known as Dulaim until 1962 when it was changed to Ramadi. In 1976 it was renamed al-Anbar. SH (S) 1