BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces have regained control of a town north of the capital Baghdad after gunmen who had seized the town agreed to withdraw without resistance.
Iraqi authorities say soldiers backed by tanks entered the town of Sulaiman Bek in Salahuddin Province early on Friday after gunmen retreated under a deal mediated by tribal chiefs and government officials.
The gunmen were given forty-eight hours to withdraw or face an attack by the army.
Gunmen seized the town on Wednesday after deadly clashes with the security forces. Suleiman Bek lies on the road that connects Baghdad to Kirkuk.
A high-ranking military officer said that the army made a tactical withdrawal from the town “so we can work on clearing the area completely, after we knew that the residents had left,” AFP reported.
The gunmen’s seizure of Suleiman Bek came amid a surge of violence in Iraq which began on Tuesday when security forces clashed with militants and anti-government protesters in several towns and cities, including Ramadi and Hawija near Kirkuk.
t least 180 people have been killed in Iraq in a bloody wave of violence over the past four days.
Iraq has been the scene of anti-government demonstrations since December 23, 2012, when bodyguards of former finance minister, Rafie al-Issawi, were arrested on terrorism-related charges.
The demonstrators accuse Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of discrimination against Sunni Muslims. Maliki, however, has denied accusations, saying regional countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are fueling sectarian tensions in Iraq. Agencies
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