The US military's counterinsurgency effort depends heavily on Awakening Councils, more than 70,000 Sunnis who battle al-Qaeda in Iraq in exchange for $10-a-day from the US military. Though the militias have been credited as a key force behind the reduction in violence in the last 6 months, some disgruntled Sunni fighters are accusing the US military of using them to clear dangerous areas and then abandoning them.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 4:27:17 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41913/6-dead-in-4th-day-of-baghdad-bombings.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA series of bomb blasts across Baghdad killed six people and injured more than 20 others today, the fourth consecutive day of heightened violence in the Iraqi capital. The deadliest attack came near a checkpoint in central Baghdad, while another targeting a government convoy killed six city workers. A string of daily bombings since Monday has now killed more than 30 people, reports the AP.http://www.newser.com/story/41913/6-dead-in-4th-day-of-baghdad-bombings.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 06 Nov 2008 5:52:39 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/40702/pakistan-to-arm-local-militias.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPakistan plans to give weapons to thousands of tribal fighters along its border with Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports—a strategy that has helped the US in Iraq. The move to link the militias—called lashkars—to anti-Taliban efforts is a boost to US confidence in Pakistan’s military efforts, and commanders say they’re seeing results across the border in Afghanistan.http://www.newser.com/story/40702/pakistan-to-arm-local-militias.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 23 Oct 2008 7:57:04 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38771/forces-key-to-iraq-security-lose-steam-as-us-hands-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAs Iraq's Shia-led government assumes greater control of security, US soldiers fear the sudden disintegration of the 54,000-strong Sunni force that had been key to improving conditions there, the Washington Post reports. The government has pledged to hire 20% of the so-called Sons of Iraq, but that still leaves the haunting prospect of thousands of young men “unemployed, with weapons,” says a US captain.http://www.newser.com/story/38771/forces-key-to-iraq-security-lose-steam-as-us-hands-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 30 Sep 2008 10:26:26 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38178/sectarian-arrests-threaten-iraq-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSunnis of the Awakening Council, which helped the US fight al-Qaeda in Iraq, are in hiding to avoid arrest by the Shia-led government, USA Today reports. Such political harassment could allow al-Qaeda to regain footing in volatile Diyala province and elsewhere, US officials say. Iraqi government members insist their actions are motivated by security, not sectarian politics.http://www.newser.com/story/38178/sectarian-arrests-threaten-iraq-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 23 Sep 2008 13:09:10 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37994/return-to-iraq-a-fragile-peace-thats-jarring.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWhen Dexter Filkins left Baghdad in 2006, it was a city of shuttered buildings and fearful citizens, in a land that looked as though it would never recover from war. But, writes the war correspondent in the New York Times, “to return now is to be jarred in the oddest way possible: by the normal, by the pleasant, even by hope” —reopened, packed shops, people outside at night, women walking alone.http://www.newser.com/story/37994/return-to-iraq-a-fragile-peace-thats-jarring.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSun, 21 Sep 2008 6:59:42 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/36325/us-hands-anbar-province-to-iraqis.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe American military is finally handing over control of Anbar province, once the center of the Sunni insurgency, to Iraqi forces today. Once one of Iraq's most dangerous regions, Anbar was transformed as Sunni militants allied themselves with the US. The transfer of Anbar, delayed several times, brings the number of provinces under Iraqi control to 11 out of 18, reports the BBC.http://www.newser.com/story/36325/us-hands-anbar-province-to-iraqis.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 01 Sep 2008 5:47:15 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35504/iraq-cracks-down-on-us-allied-sunni-fighters.html?refid=rss_all_defaultIraq's Shiite-dominated government has begun a crackdown on groups of US-backed Sunni fighters, the New York Times reports. The government fears the fighters, part of what is called the Awakening movement, could be waiting to turn their guns on Shiites. In several parts of the country senior members have been arrested in recent weeks, and hundreds of others, many of them on the US payroll, have been targeted.http://www.newser.com/story/35504/iraq-cracks-down-on-us-allied-sunni-fighters.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 22 Aug 2008 1:44:39 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/22266/us-air-strike-kills-6-sunni-allies.html?refid=rss_all_defaultUS helicopters opened fire on two checkpoints manned by a pro-American group today, killing six members of the Sons of Iraq and injuring two civilians. The attack could exacerbate already strained tensions between the US and the Awakening Councils it employs, CNN reports. The US said that its helicopter opened fire after it spotted five people “conducting suspicious terrorist activity.”http://www.newser.com/story/22266/us-air-strike-kills-6-sunni-allies.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 24 Mar 2008 10:12:24 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/22168/sunni-militias-threaten-strike-over-late-pay.html?refid=rss_all_defaultUS-allied Sunni militias are threatening to go on strike over late pay. At least two of the 49 Awakening councils that have been enlisted in the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq have already done so, reports the Guardian , and the dispute over their $10-a-day payments threatens the partnership that has been key to the reduction in violence in the last 6 months, say analysts.http://www.newser.com/story/22168/sunni-militias-threaten-strike-over-late-pay.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 24 Mar 2008 10:12:24 CDT