US and Iraqi forces have launched a new operation in Ramadi. Some 200 Iraqi soldiers and 300 Marines participated Friday in Operation Shank in the area around Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraq's interior ministry has banned all non-Iraqi Arabs from entering the country until further notice as part of security steps ahead of the Dec. 15 general elections, officials said Friday.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have long complained about foreign Arabs sneaking into Iraq to join the fight against the United States. The decision was taken Tuesday by Interior Minister Bayn Jabr, said two senior ministry officials who.
On Thursday night, a Shiite was killed and his brother injured by gunmen dressed as Iraqi soldiers in Baquba.
