ISIS Takes Control Of Iraq's Ramadi, US Vows to Help
Written by : Mohamed Abdel FattahThe so-called Islamic State, also known as Isis, seized Ramadi after government forces left their positions. Ramadi is the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims.
Militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday. It was the biggest victory for Islamic State in Iraq since security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups began pushing the militants back last year, aided by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition.
IS in Iraq, the successor of al Qaeda in Iraq, is made up of Iraqi Sunnis and foreign Islamist fighters. ISIS has routinely defeated other rebel groups in neighboring Syria and claimed large swaths of that country’s territory.
The militants almost took the Iraqi Kurdish capital city of Erbil in February, despite the fierce resistance of the vaunted fighters of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The loss of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, is a blow for both the Iraqi government and US strategy in the area.
Retaking it is a massive challenge to the Iraqi government, which has had to appeal to the Shia militias despite the risks of a sectarian backlash from sending them deep into the Sunni heartland.
Shia militiamen will now attempt to block the road to Baghdad after Isis fighters defeated elite units of the Iraqi armed forces and captured the city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of the capital.
Iraqi security commanders were meeting on Tuesday to pull together outlines of the new plans to liberate Ramadi — in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.
The United States is promising to help Iraqi forces retake Ramadi from the Islamic State militant group,while the Pentagon emphasized the U.S. role would be limited to supplying air power to back-up Iraqi operations on the ground.
Officials said coalition aircraft were already seeking Islamic State targets in and around Ramadi, carrying out eight strikes in a 24-hour period ending Monday while noting 32 such strikes had been carried out over the past three weeks.
At least 3,000 fighters deployed to the Habanniya military base, 16 miles east of Ramadi, on Monday to prepare to fight alongside local Sunni tribesman, Anbar’s provincial council said.
Some 75,000 militia fighters overall have been preparing for the Ramadi battle, Iraq’s state-run news agency reported on Monday.
The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis as thousands flee.
It says some 25,000 people have left the city, only 105km (65 miles) west of Baghdad, in recent days, adding to a flood of people already displaced from the area. Many were sleeping in the open.
Sources
http://www.voanews.com/content/shiite-militias-set-course-for-ramadi-after-is-victory/2776000.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/17/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-idUSKBN0O20M020150517
http://www.wsj.com/articles/shiite-forces-in-iraq-mobilize-to-retake-city-from-islamic-state-1431960583
Militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday. It was the biggest victory for Islamic State in Iraq since security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups began pushing the militants back last year, aided by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition.
IS in Iraq, the successor of al Qaeda in Iraq, is made up of Iraqi Sunnis and foreign Islamist fighters. ISIS has routinely defeated other rebel groups in neighboring Syria and claimed large swaths of that country’s territory.
The militants almost took the Iraqi Kurdish capital city of Erbil in February, despite the fierce resistance of the vaunted fighters of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The loss of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, is a blow for both the Iraqi government and US strategy in the area.
Retaking it is a massive challenge to the Iraqi government, which has had to appeal to the Shia militias despite the risks of a sectarian backlash from sending them deep into the Sunni heartland.
Shia militiamen will now attempt to block the road to Baghdad after Isis fighters defeated elite units of the Iraqi armed forces and captured the city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of the capital.
Iraqi security commanders were meeting on Tuesday to pull together outlines of the new plans to liberate Ramadi — in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.
The United States is promising to help Iraqi forces retake Ramadi from the Islamic State militant group,while the Pentagon emphasized the U.S. role would be limited to supplying air power to back-up Iraqi operations on the ground.
Officials said coalition aircraft were already seeking Islamic State targets in and around Ramadi, carrying out eight strikes in a 24-hour period ending Monday while noting 32 such strikes had been carried out over the past three weeks.
At least 3,000 fighters deployed to the Habanniya military base, 16 miles east of Ramadi, on Monday to prepare to fight alongside local Sunni tribesman, Anbar’s provincial council said.
Some 75,000 militia fighters overall have been preparing for the Ramadi battle, Iraq’s state-run news agency reported on Monday.
The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis as thousands flee.
It says some 25,000 people have left the city, only 105km (65 miles) west of Baghdad, in recent days, adding to a flood of people already displaced from the area. Many were sleeping in the open.
Sources
http://www.voanews.com/content/shiite-militias-set-course-for-ramadi-after-is-victory/2776000.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/17/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-idUSKBN0O20M020150517
http://www.wsj.com/articles/shiite-forces-in-iraq-mobilize-to-retake-city-from-islamic-state-1431960583
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