Iraqi forces fight to retake Ramadi from Islamic State

Iraqi security forces, backed by Sunni and Shiite volunteers supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State group advanced their position after heavy clashes in the western suburbs of Ramadi, Anbar province, Iraq.

In this Monday, Dec. 21, 2015 photo, Iraqi soldiers plant the… They’re also asked to film these acts, send the footage to Middle Eastern TV networks like Al Jazeera, and claim they were carried out by Shia forces and Iraqi Security Forces.

Ramadi fell to the Islamic State in May, in a sudden collapse after a long battle that exposed multiple weaknesses in the government’s ability to fight the militants, including stark military shortfalls and disorganization, and an unwillingness by the government to arm or send reinforcements to help Sunni tribesmen who were fighting the militants.

Retaking the city, an insurgent bastion that saw some of the deadliest fighting against U.S. troops a decade ago, would be the Iraqi forces’ most significant victory so far in their fight against IS militants.

The United States and its allies have conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and eight in Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement.

The document appears to be a formal order directing ISIL’s fighters to impersonate Iraqi Security Forces and to commit atrocities against the civilian population before they withdraw.

Iraqi intelligence estimated that between 250 and 300 militants are inside Ramadi.

“I think the fall of Ramadi is inevitable”, said Col. Steven H. Warren, the United States military spokesman here.

The ultimate aim is to clear Islamic State from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and Falluja, which lies between Ramadi and Baghdad, as well as large areas of Syria – the core of what it has declared to be a caliphate.

Islamic State fighters took over Fallujah at the beginning of 2014, and the fight to win it back continues to this day.

Tuesday’s operation began at dawn when Iraqi troops crossed the Euphrates river into Ramadi’s central districts. Iraqi commanders say they expect to regain all of Ramadi before the New Year, reports the Washington Post. Military planes dropped leaflets telling them to leave within 72 hours and indicating safe routes for their exit.

The offensive began at around 10 a.m., with Iraqi counterterrorism troops crossing the Euphrates River to storm the Bakir neighborhood, near the city’s main government compound, the Iraqi military said in a statement.

ISIL fighters have had plenty of time to dig in since they took full control of the city on May 17 after blitzing government forces with wave after wave of vehicle and truck bomb attacks.