Baghdad: Iraq’s army and allied paramilitary forces massed around Ramadi yesterday, looking for swift action to recapture the city from the Islamic State group before it builds up defences.
With his security strategy in tatters and his authority facing its biggest challenge since he took office eight months ago, Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi was looking for quick redemption.
But the jihadists, whose capture of Ramadi on Sunday showed they may have been written off too soon, tried to keep up the momentum by attacking government and allied forces east of the city.
Abadi has “ordered the setting up of new defence lines in Ramadi, to reorganise and deploy the fighting troops”, his office said late on Monday after talks with Iran’s defence minister.
The Shia paramilitary groups had been eager to join the Ramadi battle for some time and argued that Abadi’s reluctance led to the provincial capital’s fall.
Following a belated green light, they started sending convoys of fighters to Anbar, where anti-IS forces are massing, mostly east and west of Ramadi.
“The US government and Iraqi government seem to be on the same sheet of music that Ramadi has to be counterattacked before IS consolidates,” Michael Knights of the Washington Institute said.
In the other half of IS’ self-proclaimed “caliphate”, a monitoring group said yesterday that US-led air strikes in the northeastern Syrian region of Hasakeh had killed 170 IS militants in 48 hours.
Anbar police chief Kadhim Al Fahdawi said a large number of well-prepared troops were positioned in Husaybah, about seven kilometres east of Ramadi.
“This area will be the starting point for the operations to liberate the cities of Anbar,” he said.
But much planning remains to be done before Iraqi forces attempt to move back into Ramadi, a large town on the Euphrates about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad.
“The military operation to liberate Ramadi and Anbar will not start until all the requirements are met,” Fahdawi said.AFP
