Sunni opposition groups Iraqi Government Decentralized leadership Nouri al-Maliki(Prime Minister of Iraq) Jalal Talabani(President of Iraq) The 2012–2013 Iraqi protests started on 21 December 2012 following a raid on the home of Sunni Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and the arrest of 10 of his bodyguards.

The protesters blocked a highway in Fallujah and demanded Prime Minister Maliki's resignation, waving banners reading: "Resistance is still in our veins.

"[7] 23 December also saw protesters begin the barricading of the main highway at Ramadi, thereby disrupting a key Iraqi trade route to Jordan and Syria.

The protests also spread from Al Anbar Governorate to other Sunni parts of Iraq including Mosul, Samarra[8] Tikrit, and the Adhimiya district of Baghdad.

During the week protests took place in Mosul, Kirkuk, Baiji, Tikrit, al-Daur, Ishaqi, Samarra, Jalawla, Dhuluiyah, Baquba, Ramadi, Fallujah, Baghdad, Albu Ajil, and Nasiriyah.

The sit-in at Ramadi, blocking the highway, continued, and was visited from Amman by Sunni Iraqi Cleric Abdul Malik al-Saadi on 28 December.

[9] On 30 December Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni and critic of Maliki, travelled to Ramadi to attempt to address the protesters.

[11] The week of 5 January saw continuing anti-government protests in Mosul, Kirkuk, Tikrit, al-Daur, Samarra, Dhuluiyah, Ramadi, Fallujah, Abu Ghraib, and the Baghdad districts of Adhamiya and Ghazaliyah.

The week also saw the emergence of pro-government protests, taking place in Baghdad, along with the southern Shiite cities of Karbala, Kut, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Samawa, and Basra.

The 11th Iraqi Army Division was deployed north of Tikrit by the Tigris Operations Command on January 11 to prevent protests in Hawija.

[9] In the west of Iraq units from the 29th Mechanised Brigade of the 7th Army Division closed the Jordan-Iraqi border crossing at Trebil due to unspecified security concerns.

[9] Thousands of pro-Maliki demonstrators took to the streets in at least 5 governorates on Tuesday 8 January to voice support for Maliki and oppose an attempts to change the de-Baathification laws.

[16] In a statement read at Fallujah's main square, Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha announced that the tribal leaders had given the government one week to bring the perpetrators of the shooting to justice.

[17] On 22 February thousands of protesters took to the streets of Ramadi, Baghdad, Mosul, and Fallujah following Friday prayers in order to continue the demonstrations against the Iraqi government, calling for Maliki to step down.

[18] The day also saw seven members of a Sahwa militia (originally moderate Sunni tribal groups) killed in Tuz Khormato by armed men wearing military uniforms, presumably al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

In response to the shooting the Minister of Agriculture, Izz al-Din al-Dawla, hosted a televised news conference where he announced his resignation from his cabinet post to protest the killings.

Sheikh Abdullah Sami al-Asi, a Sunni provincial official, said the violence resulted from the security forces entering the area and trying to make arrests.

[23] There was also retaliatory violence in the surrounding Sunni-majority region where other gunmen attacked police checkpoints in Riyadh and Rashad until a military counterattack a few hours later.

[25] The Iraqi government also set up a commission to investigate the previous day's incidents,[26] that is to be led by Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq.

[27] On 25 April, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned of a sectarian war and blamed "remnants of Baath Party for violence.

Mujahid Abu al-Hail of the Communications and Media Commission said: "We took a decision to suspend the licence of some satellite channels that adopted language encouraging violence and sectarianism.

[43] Provincial elections took place in Anbar in June 2013, and afterwards the new governor, Ahmad Khalaf al-Dhiyabi of the Muttahidoon coalition, began seeking ways to reconcile with Maliki.

[45] By late December Prime Minister Maliki was claiming that the Ramadi protest camp had been turned into a headquarters for the leadership of al-Qaeda.

At least ten people were killed and a number of police vehicles were attacked and burned, whilst Iraqi government helicopters supported security forces moving in on the camp.

Sheik Abdul Malik Al-Saadi denounced the move against the protest camp, and called on security forces to immediately withdraw in order to avert further bloodshed.

[49] Following the December 2013 clashes, ISIL launched a campaign in Anbar, taking control of Fallujah and temporarily occupying parts of Ramadi.