United States army: ISIS militants still in Ramadi

The Daesh terrorist group(ISIS) has reportedly executed more than three dozen civilians near Ramadi following the city’s recapture by the Iraqi army. But even the administration itself has hesitated to call the victory a vindication, or claim it as evidence that the militants are close to the destruction Obama has promised.

As government forces mounted their final assault to retake the key city – controlled by the Sunni terror group since May – ISIS began to pull families out of their homes and move them to the eastern part of the city. This time, instead of running away, “they incurred huge losses and they didn’t flinch”. He said its capture would mark the end of the “caliphate” proclaimed from the northern city’s main mosque in June 2014.

Yet, Ramadi may well become a turning point in the fight against the IS in Iraq.

Iraqi security forces fighting for control of the city said Islamic State extremists had been using the civilians as human shields.

The agency reported an unnamed army official as saying that Daesh militants fired rockets at Abadi’s convoy while he was talking to a group of soldiers on the city’s al-Qasim bridge. Abadi said 2016 will be the a year ago for Daesh in Iraq. Instead, American advisers helped train thousands of local Sunni tribal fighters, who oppose the Islamic State, to secure neighbourhoods captured from the militants. Reinforcements are expected from neighboring Syria, where efforts to dislodge Islamic State have been hampered by a civil war. “The flip side is that the population is much more sympathetic to this enemy”.

Iraqi authorities have restricted their entry into the capital by requiring them to have guarantors. “I’m not making excuses for the army; they had plenty of other problems”.

Iraqi forces, backed by Western air power, finally drove ISIS out of the heart of Ramadi earlier this week.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi walks in liberated Ramadi with Lieutenant-General Abdel Ghani al-Assadi. He says a major offensive to clear the remainder of the provincial capital is on hold due to the bad weather.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the majority Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal Maliki focused upon settling old scores with the Sunnis. Without follow-up, military and political, however, that significance will soon enough evaporate.

Maria Fantappie, Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that despite Fallujah’s proximity to Baghdad, it was not necessarily the next target.