Jihadist group in Iraq may push into Baghdad ahead of elections
Anti-government fighters paraded with dozens of vehicles last week just 20km from the capital
A powerful jihadist group inspired by al-Qaeda has opened a new battlefront with Iraqi security forces that could see it try to push into Baghdad, officials and analysts warn.
The latest clashes, just weeks before parliamentary elections, raise key questions over the capacity of the army and police to repel militant attacks. Anti-government fighters currently hold all of Fallujah, a town that is just a short drive from Baghdad, and other pockets of territory.
The push by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) into the Abu Ghraib area, sparking clashes in nearby Zoba and Zaidan and a failed assault on a military camp in Yusifiyah, illustrate the group's ambition, even with Fallujah under military siege.
In perhaps the most worrying sign of ISIL's capabilities, anti-government fighters paraded with dozens of vehicles last week in broad daylight in Abu Ghraib, just 20 kilometres from the capital, according to witnesses and videos posted to YouTube.
"ISIL fighters are trying to ease the pressure imposed on them in Fallujah," said an army lieutenant colonel, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They have begun moving against weak villages between Baghdad and Fallujah, and to attack army units."