U.S. Marine Sergeant Matt Lyons from Chatham, Illinois of Golf Company 2 battalion, 7th Marines talks with a villager as he conducts a security patrol May 12, 2007 [GALLO-GETTY]
Inside Story

US troops arming Anbar tribes

The tactic is designed to tackle al-Qaeda in one of their strongholds.

undefined
Marine talks with a villager as he conducts a security patrol [Getty]

Iraq’s Anbar province, west of Baghdad, has long been an al-Qaeda stronghold and a no-go area for the hundreds of thousands of US troops stationed in the country.

A controversial strategy has emerged which has pushed al-Qaeda out of the Sunni-dominated province. US troops are arming the tribes to tackle al-Qaeda.

It seems to be working as Anbar has lost its long-held reputation as Iraq’s most dangerous province for US forces.

Will putting more arms in the country deepen the crisis further?

Why does the al-Maliki government object to this move?

Watch Inside Story at 17:30GMT on Al Jazeera English

This episode of Inside Story aired on 28 June 2007

Watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwW-Q8GmP68


To contact us click on ‘Send your feedback’ at the top of the page

Watch Al Jazeera English programmes on YouTube

Join our debates on the Your Views page