Iraqi army rushes reinforcements into Ramadi to prevent massive Isis defeat

[Jefferson23]

Unless the government can counterattack swiftly and regain control of lost positions, the defeat in Ramadi will be a devastating blow

May 16, 2015

Islamic State (Isis) is proclaiming victory in Ramadi over mosque loudspeakers after a day of heavy fighting as the government rushes reinforcements into the city to prevent its worst defeat this year.

Isis forces stormed the government-held enclave in central Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, early on 15 May. The government still holds an operations centre on the edge of the city and important bases nearby, but its failure to defend Ramadi is a sign that Isis has become a permanent feature of the political and military landscape of Iraq.

The Isis assault came early on Friday as it used armoured bulldozers to clear away concrete obstructions and then sent at least six suicide bombers driving vehicles packed with explosives to attack the defenders. An army major was reported as saying that Isis had cut the only remaining supply line for troops still in the city, making it difficult to reinforce them. Some 130,000 remaining inhabitants of Ramadi, an overwhelmingly Sunni city, have fled the fighting, though they have previously had difficulty in entering Baghdad where they are suspected of being Isis sympathisers.

Unless the government can counterattack swiftly and regain control of lost positions, the defeat in Ramadi will be a devastating blow to the Baghdad government. It shows that Isis can gain military successes despite its offensive being expected and with defending troops supported by US air strikes. Isis’s run of victories last year was broken during the winter by its failure to capture the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani despite suffering heavy losses. Some military specialists believed that the same thing would happen at Ramadi.

in full: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraqi-army-rushes-reinforcements-into-ramadi-to-prevent-massive-isis-defeat-10255419.html