Iraqi official says violence in western Anbar province kills some 60 people since Dec. 28

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi official says fighting between security forces and al-Qaida-linked militants in Sunni-dominated Anbar province has killed at least 60 people over the past two weeks.

The head of Anbar Health Directorate, Khudeir Shalal said Saturday that 43 people were killed in the city of Ramadi and other 17 were killed in Fallujah since violence erupted in the western province after the Dec. 28 arrest of a Sunni lawmaker sought on terrorism charges and the dismantling of an anti-government Sunni protest camp in Ramadi.

Shalal said a total of 297 people were also wounded in both cities.

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribesmen have been battling militants to recapture the cities, partially seized by fighters from an al-Qaida-linked group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.