Violence has reignited in western Iraq, with Islamist fighters taking over much of Anbar province three months ago. A renegade al-Qaida group has set up its headquarters in Fallujah – the city where hundreds of U.S. soldiers died a decade ago, trying to wrest it from insurgent control.
But this time, the enemy isn't the U.S. and it's not just extremists fighting. Ordinary Sunnis in Anbar, furious at what they call years of discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government, have joined the militants' battle against the Iraqi army.
There's another difference: This group has better training and weapons, drawing strength and fighters from the chaos across the border in Syria, where it is also active.
In northern Iraq, I meet a group of young men who are among the 400,000 people who have fled the fighting in Anbar.
They say their brothers, cousins and friends are among those fighting against the army in Anbar — not because they like al-Qaida, but because they hate the Iraqi army so much. They've heeded the call by tribal sheikhs that each family leave one son behind to fight.
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