In the west and central regions of Iraq, heart of the supposed "Sunni insurgency", US forces are equipping and training former Sunni insurgents to fight al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in a bid to turn local and tribal groups against the presence of "foreign" Islamists. [First pioneered in Anbar province, the "Anbar model" is now being replicated in other Sunni areas, including the Amiriya district of Baghdad.] [NYT, June 11]

A suicide car bomb in [Mahmudiyya, part of the so-called] "triangle of death" [Sunni stronhold south of Baghdad] killed three US soldiers, as other bombs killed dozens of Iraqi policemen [June 10]. [Reuters, June 11]

From Madird11.net Security Briefs, June 11

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