ISIS Offensive In Ramadi Momentarily Stopped By Coalition Airstrikes

The ISIS advance into Ramadi was stalled for the moment as the US-led coalition conducted airstrikes against the group. However, a provincial leader said the security forces of the city still need reinforcements.

Some areas close to the capital city of the Anbar province, which is around 110 kilometers to the west of Baghdad, were already overrun by ISIS. The siege by the extremist group forced thousands of civilians to leave the city even as city officials said that the city can fall if reinforcements do not arrive on time.

The coalition airstrikes concentrated on the resupply routes of ISIS, which prevented the group from gaining additional ground in the city, according to Anbar provincial council deputy chief Faleh Essawi.

While it remains uncertain which countries took part in the airstrikes, the US military revealed that numerous airstrikes were conducted against ISIS targets around Ramadi. Essawi said reinforcements are still needed by the defenders of the city since they lack the arms and manpower to maintain their positions.

The ISIS offensive shows the resilience of the extremist group despite its defeat to Iraqi forces in the city of Tikrit. ISIS has been trying to establish an Islamic caliphate after it took control of parts of both Syria and Iraq last year. Ramadi has been the center of intense fighting between ISIS and Iraqi forces in the last few months with the group gaining control of some parts of the city early last year.

Ramadi Offensive Continues - image credit: cnn.com

Aathal al-Fahdawi, an Anbar council member, said government buildings in the city were attacked by ISIS last Wednesday, were repelled by the defenders of the city. Al-Fahdawi echoed the plea of Essawi as he said that the 15 Humvees the city received was not enough to defend the city.

Anbar provincial governor Suhaib al-Rawi also made a plea through Iraqiya TV and asked the central government of Iraq to send more troops. He also asked for helped from the Hashd al-Shaabi militia, a group that helped Iraqi troops in defeating ISIS in Tikrit.

A good number of civilian refugees have left the city due to the fighting. Residents packed their belongings on metal carts as they started to flee on foot. Some people left the city through the east where the ISIS advance is coming from.

Essawi revealed that the exodus of around 150,000 people resulted to traffic jams outside the city. Defense officials said the narrow alleyways of the city complicated the civilian evacuation of the city. The media head of the Ministry of Defense of Iraq, Brigadier Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim, said Iraqi forces pulled back to provide refugees safe passage through the battlefield.

Ibrahim added that the military is set to send reinforcements to the city as it starts to regroup. The same strategy was used during the battle of Tikrit, which benefitted from airstrikes from the US-led coalition. Sleeper cells within the city of Ramadi allowed ISIS to enter the northeastern part of the city.

A US military official revealed that the fall of the city is imminent. While a good part of the city was already under the influence or control of ISIS, the area has been targeted by the extremist group for several months already, and Ramadi is right in the middle of the offensive.

Posted by James Fried on Friday April 17 2015, 10:30 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0