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"UPDATE - 12:45 p.m. ET on June 22: Sunni insurgents captured on Sunday two border crossings \u2014 the Turaibil crossing with Jordan and the al-Walid crossing with Syria \u2014 after government forces there pulled out, according to Iraqi military officials.\nBAGHDAD \u2014 Sunni militants have seized another town in Iraq's western Anbar province, the fourth to fall in two days, officials said Sunday, in what is shaping up to be a major offensive in one of Iraq's most restive regions.\nIran's supreme leader meanwhile came out forcefully against any U.S. intervention in Iraq, accusing Washington of fomenting the unrest, and appearing to quash recent speculation that the two rivals might cooperate in addressing the shared threat posed by the advance of Islamic extremists.\nSee also: Sunni Insurgents Seize Second Iraqi Town in Anbar, Shiite Militia Parade\nThe militants captured Rutba, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) east of the Jordanian border, late Saturday, the officials said. Residents were negotiating with the militants on Sunday to leave, after an army unit on the town's outskirts threatened to start shelling.\n\nThe towns of Qaim, Rawah, Anah and Rutba are the first seized in the mainly Sunni Anbar province since fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and their allies overran the city of Fallujah and parts of the provincial capital of Ramadi earlier this year.\nThe capture of Rawah on the Euphrates River and the nearby town of Anah appeared to be part of a march toward a key dam in the city of Haditha, the destruction of which would damage Iraq's electrical grid, and cause major flooding.\nTaking Rutba gives the insurgents control over the final stretch of a major highway to neighboring Jordan, a key artery for passengers and goods that has been infrequently used for months because of deteriorating security.\nIraqi military officials said more than 2,000 troops were quickly dispatched to the site of the dam to protect it. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.\nChief military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, acknowledged the fall of the Anbar towns, saying government forces had made a tactical retreat, and planned to retake them. He provided no further details.\nThe ISIL and allied militants have carved out a large fiefdom along the Iraqi-Syrian border. Control over crossings such as that one in Qaim allows them to more easily move weapons and heavy equipment. Rebels control the Syrian side of the crossing.\nIraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government has struggled to push back against the Sunni militants, who have seized large swaths of the country's north since taking control of the second-largest city of Mosul on June 10, as troops melted away.\nIraq has requested U.S. airstrikes to help halt the advance, but U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to order any, and has instead called on Iraqi leaders to form a more representative government in thinly veiled criticism of al-Maliki.\nThe top leader of neighboring Iran, which has strong influence over Baghdad, said on Sunday that \"Iran strongly opposes any kind of U.S. intervention in Iraq,\" according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the country's state news agency.\n\"The U.S. is not pleased with the current situation in Iraq, let\u02C8s say holding elections with good participation of the public and deciding the public choices because the U.S. wants to dominate Iraq and have its agents rule over the country,\" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is quoted as saying.\n\"What happened in Iraq is not a [Shiite]-Sunni war,\" he said, adding that the main conflict in Iraq is between those who wish to join the U.S. and those who support Iraq independence.\nThe U.S. has long accused Iran of meddling in Iraq, including by organizing and backing Shiite militias following the 2003 invasion.\nThe commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, was reportedly in Iraq last week to consult with the government on how to stave off insurgents' gains. Soleimani's forces are a secretive branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard that were allegedly involved in organizing the anti-U.S. militias, and have more recently aided Syria's President Bashar Assad in his fight against Sunni rebels.\nAl-Maliki, who has led the country since 2006, and has not yet secured a third term after April's parliamentary elections, has increasingly turned to Iranian-backed Shiite militias and volunteers to bolster his beleaguered security forces.\nThousands of Shiite militiamen paraded through Baghdad and other cities on Saturday, brandishing a massive arsenal that included field artillery, rocket launchers and heavy machine guns in a show of force that promised to ramp up sectarian tensions.\nIn Baghdad, about 20,000 militiamen loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, many in military fatigues, marched through the sprawling Shiite Sadr City district, which saw some of the worst fighting between Shiite militias and U.S. soldiers before a ceasefire was reached in 2008 that helped stem the sectarian bloodshed that was pushing Iraq to the brink of civil war.\nAl-Maliki has come under growing pressure to reach out to disaffected Kurds and Sunnis, with many blaming his failure to promote reconciliation for Iraq's worst crisis since the U.S. military withdrew its forces nearly three years ago.\nGrand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most respected voice for Iraq's Shiite majority, who normally stays above the political fray, joined calls for al-Maliki to reach out to the Kurdish and Sunni minorities on Friday.\nAl-Maliki's State of Law bloc won the most seats in the April vote, but his hopes to retain his job have been thrown into doubt, with rivals challenging him from within the broader Shiite alliance.\nMeanwhile, the U.S. has been drawn back into the conflict. It is deploying up to 300 military advisers to join some 275 troops in and around Iraq to provide security and support for the U.S. embassy and other American interests.\nIn an interview with CBS' Face the Nation airing Sunday, Obama warned that the al-Qaeda-inspired militants in Iraq could grow in power and destabilize the region.\nHe said Washington must remain \"vigilant,\" but would not \"play whack-a-mole, and send U.S. troops occupying various countries wherever these organizations pop up.\"\nIraq enjoyed several years of relative calm before violence spiked a year ago after al-Maliki moved to crush a Sunni protest movement against alleged discrimination and abuse at the hands of his government and security forces.\nAdditional reporting by Mashable\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/22/sunni-militants-anbar/>