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WORLD NEWSWednesday 23 December
Iraqi troops advance in battle for IS-held city of Ramadi
QASSIM ZAHRA Iraqi forces announced a Iraqi soldiers advance their position in northern Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday,
Associated Press counteroffensive shortly af- Dec. 21, 2015.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi terward Mosul fell but prog-
forces on Tuesday reported ress has been sluggish and (AP Photo)
progress in the military op- clawing territory back from
eration to retake the city IS has proven more difficult desert air base that is serv- found a pamphlet in Fallu- targets, he said.
of Ramadi from the Islamic than expected. ing as a training site. It was jah that was distributed to Since overrunning Rama-
State group, saying they Col. Steve Warren, a a U.S. military hub during IS fighters, calling on them di, just 130 kilometers (80
made the most significant spokesman for the U.S. mili- the 2003-2011 war. to disguise themselves as miles) west of Baghdad,
incursion into the city since tary in Baghdad, said there Iraqi spokesman Sabah al- Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State group has
it fell to the militants in May. are 250 to 350 Islamic State Numan said troops crossed then film themselves com- destroyed all the bridges
Losing Ramadi — the capi- fighters in Ramadi, as well the Euphrates River north of mitting atrocities, such as around the city. It also de-
tal of sprawling western as several hundred outside the city and its Warar tribu- killing and torturing civilians molished the Anbar op-
Anbar province and Iraq’s the city on the northern tary to the west and pushed and blowing up mosques. erations command and
Sunni heartland — was and western perimeter. into downtown Ramadi. According to a copy of fanned out into the city’s
a major blow to the Iraqi “I think the fall of Ramadi From the south, troops led the document distributed residential areas to set up
government. It was the is inevitable,” Warren told by the counter-terrorism to reporters, it said the less conspicuous centers of
government’s biggest de- Pentagon reporters. “But agency made progress video clips should be dis- command.
feat since IS militants swept that said, it’s going to be in the Dubbat and Aramil tributed to television out- As the military operation
through areas in the coun- a tough fight ... it’s gonna neighborhoods, about 3 ki- lets “to depict the conflict continues, Ramadi’s civil-
try’s north and west, includ- take some time.” lometers (less than 2 miles) as if it is a sectarian war.” ian population — estimat-
ing Iraq’s second-largest He said American military from the city center, Gen. It was signed by a security ed to be between 4,000
city of Mosul, in the summer advisers remained outside Ismail al-Mahallawi, the and military official named and 10,000 — remains
of 2014. the city at al-Taqaddum, a head of operations in An- Abou Hajer al-Issawi and mostly trapped inside the
bar province, told AP. dated early October. city. Iraqi officials say they
Sporadic clashes broke out Warren said he believed believe civilians will be able
and advancing Iraqi forc- the document is legitimate, to get out, but coalition of-
es were forced to remove but so far there were no re- ficials report that so far they
roadside bombs planted ports of IS fighters posing as have only witnessed small
by the extremists, al-Nu- Iraqi forces. groups doing so.
man added. Al-Numan said no paramili- Warren said Iraqi forces
On Tuesday, the Dubbat tary forces — a reference had dropped leaflets tell-
neighborhood saw heavy to pro-government Shiite ing residents what routes to
fighting, with one soldier militias whose actions have use to escape. Ramadi, like
killed and 14 wounded, raised concerns in Sunni ter- the rest of Anbar province,
said an official in the Anbar ritory — were taking part in is overwhelmingly Sunni
operations room, speaking the operation. The Iraqi air Muslim, the minority com-
on condition of anonymity force and the U.S.-led inter- munity that complains of
because he was not au- national coalition were pro- discrimination by the Shiite-
thorized to brief the media. viding air support to troops led government in Bagh-
Warren said U.S. officials on ground and bombing IS dad. q
