Al-Qaeda and allied fighters in Iraq vowed to resist government forces trying to retake towns Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says are under the terrorist group’s sway. “They’ll only enter Fallujah over our dead bodies,” Khamis al-Issawi, who said he’s part of a 150-strong brigade in the city 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said in a phone interview. “We are ready and prepared to fight Maliki forces if they decide to begin their offensive on the city.” Fighting in Fallujah and the surrounding Anbar province over the past few days is part of an escalating wave of sectarian violence in Iraq, where Maliki’s Shiite Muslim-led government is confronting Sunni Muslim militants. Some are affiliated with the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has gained prominence through its role fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria. Sectarian tensions throughout the region have been […]