Iraqi gov’t forces only days away from driving ISIS off Ramadi

Iraqi soldiers advance their position in northern Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015.

Daesh militants are still in control in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and Fallujah, which lies between Ramadi and Baghdad, as well as large areas of Syria – the core of what it has declared to be a caliphate.

“The United States is willing to do more in association to support the Iraqi security forces in that mission”, said Carter.

A wave of attacks across Iraq has killed at least 15 civilians, as government forces press on with their offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad.

The operation began at dawn, when units crossed the Euphrates river using a bridge rebuilt by military engineers and a floating structure.

In recent weeks, however, Kurdish forces defeated ISIL at the key cross-roads town of Sinjar in northern Iraq, other regional forces backed by the USA have advanced on ISIL in northern and eastern Syria, and the fall of Ramadi appears imminent.

“This enemy has had time to set up their defense inside of this city and it’s going to be very hard and it’s going to be a very slow process with the Iraqis to slowly, methodically and carefully clear their way through the city”.

When Isis took over Ramadi, the capital of the sprawling western Anbar province and Iraq’s Sunni heartland, in May it was the government’s biggest defeat since the jihadist group seized Mosul.

It is noteworthy that non of the pro-Baghdad government Shi´ite militia participate in the campaign against Ramadi, supporting the notion that the recapture of Ramadi is likely to exacerbate both conflicts between Iraqi Kurds and Baghdad as well as the Sunni – Shi´ite tensions in he war-torn country.

“The anti-terrorism troops are now poised to break into the Hoz area where the governmental compound is located”, a brigadier general in the force told AFP.

But the militants have had seven months to dig in since they captured Ramadi in May and have constructed hidden tunnels between houses and planted bombs along the streets, according to US and Iraqi officials.

However, Iraqi forces have been heavily reliant on U.S. airstrikes as they slowly reclaim territory from the militants.

US intelligence assessments estimate that up to 350 Islamic State fighters remain in central Ramadi where they are squaring off against a greater number of government-aligned forcesnumbering almost 10,000, coalition spokesman Col. Steve Warren said Tuesday. He said local Sunnis, who had helped the militant group capture Ramadi in May, left the city. Iraqi officials say they believe civilians will be able to get out, but coalition officials report that so far they have only witnessed small groups doing so.

Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, later said Carter had bad information.

Warren said Iraqi forces had dropped leaflets telling residents what routes to use to escape.