The Amiriya Battle in Anbar Province The Amiriya Battle in Anbar Province

The Fourth Rail: The Amiriya Battle has a lot of detail about the battle last week between insurgents and Iraqi security forces (with American air support) in the village of Amiriya, just south of Fallujah, in Anbar province. In the fight, at least 50 al Qaeda were killed, and 80 captured. Some estimates are several times that, for minimal loss of life on the other side.

Apparently, some 200-300 al Qaeda entered Amiriya Thursday toattack a prominent leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, the grouping of local tribes and Baathists, and former insurgents who now oppose al-Qaeda in Iraqi. They were able to hold off the al Qaeda fighters long enough for Iraqi police and army personel to stream into the village.

Al Qaeda appears to be rapidly losing strength in al Anbar Province, and a good part of that is a result of the formation of the Anbar Salvation Council, where the Iraqi government is working in partnership with a majority of the Anbar tribes to impose security in the region. Part of this weakness on the part of al Qaeda is evident in that they are moving back towards terrorism there, as opposed to larger operations like this one, where they get their butt kicked by the Iraqi government forces, now agumented by Anbar tribesmen.