RAMADI
At least 71 people had been killed and 319 others injured since violence gripped Iraq's western province of Anbar in late December, local health authorities confirmed on Monday.
Anbar health Directorate chief Khodeir Shalal said the death toll cover fatalities since the eruption of violence till Saturday.
He told a press conference in the province capital Ramadi that health centers had attended to thousands of displaced people over the past days.
The predominantly Sunni Anbar province has been rocked by clashes since Iraqi security forces dismantled a months-old anti-government sit-in outside Ramadi.
The sit-in was a protest against perceived anti-Sunni discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The dispersal came two days after Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani, a prominent al-Maliki opponent, was arrested during a raid on his Ramadi home.
Six people were killed in the raid, including al-Alwani's brother.
By Aref Youssef
englishnews@aa.com.tr
