Protesters Kill Six Iraqi Soldiers
Armed protesters killed six Iraqi soldiers and kidnapped a seventh on Tuesday near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a police officer said.
The protesters also burned two armored personnel carriers and were holding the kidnapped soldier at the site of their sit-in on the highway near Ramadi, First Lieutenant Ibrahim Faraj said.
The killings were an apparent response to protest-related violence in the north Iraq province of Kirkuk earlier in the day that left dozens of people dead.
Clashes between security forces and protesters at a demonstration near Hawijah in Kirkuk province killed 27 people, while 13 gunmen died carrying out subsequent revenge attacks on army positions in the region, high-ranking army officers said.
Protesters have taken to the streets in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq for more than four months, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and decrying the alleged targeting of their minority community by the Shiite-led authorities.
Source: Agence France Presse
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