Heavy clashes as Iraq fighting sparks rights worries

Security forces backed by tanks yesterday battled militants in Iraq's Anbar province, where fighting has displaced thousands and sparked warnings of rights abuses and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The UN and NGOs have warned of a lack of access for civilians to key supplies during a government blockade of Fallujah and parts of the nearby Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, which were seized by militants last week.
And Washington has piled pressure on Baghdad to focus on political reconciliation as well as military operations to resolve the standoff.
The Anbar crisis and a protracted surge in nationwide violence are among the biggest threats to face Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during his eight years in office, and come just months before the country's first general election in four years.
Security forces yesterday backed by tanks engaged in heavy fighting with Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the Albubali area, between Ramadi and Fallujah, a police officer said.
Human Rights Watch meanwhile condemned abuses by all sides in the Anbar clashes, criticising Iraqi government forces for using what it alleged was indiscriminate mortar fire in civilian neighbourhoods, and militants for deploying in and attacking from populated areas.
Fallujah and parts of Ramadi have been outside government hands for days -- the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.