Iraqi forces seize neighborhood on outskirts of IS-held city

Iraq’s army is fighting to recapture the city from the jihadists.

The Counter-Terrorism Service said it had cleared the south-western area of Tamim on Tuesday after a fierce battle. Gen. Ismail Mahlawi, head of operations in Anbar, as saying his forces directed coalition airstrikes that killed dozens of IS militants in northern Ramadi.

“Iraqi forces managed to recapture the Anbar Operations command center inside Ramadi which was used by ISIS as a stronghold to carry out parts of its military missions in Ramadi”, the Iraqi Cabinet said in a statement. The loss of Sinjar and other areas in Anbar would deprive militants from most of their communications with Daesh-controlled areas in neighboring Syria. Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militiamen recently seized the Palestine Bridge, a main gateway, completing their encirclement of the city.

The Iraqi military last week dropped leaflets over Ramadi warning residents to leave as troops prepare to take on an estimated 600 to 1,000 IS fighters defending the city.

Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for an Iraqi counterterrorism unit fighting in Ramadi, said that while much of the former operations center had been destroyed by Islamic State fighters, the Iraqi flag had been raised above one of the remaining buildings.

Al Tameem lies to the southwest of ISIL-held central Ramadi and Iraqi forces now need to make matching advances to the north in order to attack the militants from both sides.

“We can not give a specific time we will liberate the city”, he said, adding that Islamic State had “destroyed numerous bridges” over the river.

Global support in the form of strikes, training and arms plays an important role in Iraq’s battle against ISIL, but Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi is walking a fine line between receiving that assistance and protecting sovereignty.

Shifting parts of Ramadi, 100 kilometres from Baghdad, had been held by anti-government fighters since the beginning of last year, but ISIL did not succeed in completely overrunning it until May of this year.