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Pro-government
forces are seeking to retake the capital of the sprawling
western province of Anbar after the ultra-radical Islamic State
overran it last weekend in a significant defeat for the Baghdad
government.
The fall of Ramadi is the most serious setback for Iraqi forces
in almost a year and has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the
U.S. strategy of air strikes to help Baghdad roll back Islamic
State, which controls about a third of Iraq.
Anbar provincial council member Azzal Obaid said hundreds of
fighters, who arrived at the Habbaniya air base last week after
Islamic State took Ramadi, were on Saturday in Khalidiya and
approaching Siddiqiya and Madiq, towns in contested areas near
Ramadi.
At the same time, Islamic State has been advancing towards
Fallujah to try to absorb more territory in Anbar province that
would bring them closer to the Iraqi capital Baghdad around 80
km (50 miles) to the east. A pro-government Sunni Muslim tribal
leader in the area said on Friday that the jihadist militants
were around 5 km (3 miles) from Khalidiya.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has sent Shi'ite
paramilitary groups to try to retake Ramadi at the risk of
inflaming tensions with the region's aggrieved, predominantly
Sunni Muslim population.
(Reporting by Baghdad Bureau; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing
by Mark Heinrich)
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