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| Hostages seized as Iraq militants storm Ramadi university | Hostages seized as Iraq militants storm Ramadi university |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Militants in Iraq have stormed a university campus in the western city of Ramadi, taking dozens of students and staff hostage. | Militants in Iraq have stormed a university campus in the western city of Ramadi, taking dozens of students and staff hostage. |
| One report said some guards had been killed at the Anbar University campus. | One report said some guards had been killed at the Anbar University campus. |
| The unconfirmed report also said the militants were from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant group. | |
| The western province of Anbar is a focal point of Iraq's rising sectarian violence, with a number of areas controlled by Sunni militants. | The western province of Anbar is a focal point of Iraq's rising sectarian violence, with a number of areas controlled by Sunni militants. |
| Parts of Ramadi have been under their control for months. | |
| Sealed off | |
| Police said militants had infiltrated the campus from the neighbouring al-Tasha district, blowing up a bridge that connects to the university's main gate. | |
| Security forces have sealed off the campus. | |
| The staff and students are reportedly being held in a dormitory. | |
| The violence in Anbar meant there was no voting there in the 30 April parliamentary elections. | |
| Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's alliance won the elections, but fell short of a majority. | |
| Mr Maliki wants a third term, but other parties have voiced strong opposition. | |
| They blame him for the sectarian violence, which has left more than 3,500 people dead this year, and accuse him of trying to monopolise power. | |
| He blames external factors like the conflict in Syria for exacerbating the violence, and his opponents for the current political stalemate. | |
| The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has carried out dozens of deadly attacks both in Iraq and Syria and imposes strict Islamic rule in the areas it controls. |