Smoke rises from Islamic State positions following a U.S.-led coalition airstrike as Iraqi Security forces advance their position in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015.
Advertisement
Broncos QB Manning sits out practice with foot soreness
But he said Manning took a “step in the right direction” in his return from a torn plantar fascia in his left foot Wednesday. Seahawks: Seattle’s search for a primary running back until Marshawn Lynch returns took an unexpected twist.
The reinforcements, including Sunni Muslim tribal fighters trained by the United States, were meant to allow the first wave of troops to continue pushing toward a government complex in the center of Ramadi held by fighters for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, a senior military commander told Iraqi state television.
Fireball shoots across sky, determined to be Russian rocket
Dozens of people took to social media to share images and marvel at the white fireball flying through the sky. The same skies in the western United States became the site of a similar unidentified object when the U.S.
In and around Baghdad, five bombs went off in commercial areas, killing eight civilians and wounding 35, two police officers said.
Ozil plays down Arsenal contract talk
And Mertesacker believes Arsenal’s hopes of winning the league for the first time since 2003-04 depends a lot on Ozil. Mesut Ozil says he isn’t in a rush to sign a new contract at Arsenal but the midfielder is “very happy” in London.
Tuesday’s ground offensive started at dawn, when Iraqi forces crossed an improvised pontoon bridge over the Euphrates River into a southern neighborhood and surprised militant fighters, said Sabah al-Numani, spokesman of the government’s counterterrorism forces.
An assault by Iraqi forces to wrest control of Ramadi from the Islamic State reached the edges of the city center Tuesday evening, in a battle that was months in the making and a critical test for the Iraqi government.
When Iraqi forces reclaim Ramadi, they will inherit a virtual ghost town. It would provide a major psychological boost to Iraqi security forces after the militant group seized a third of Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer and U.S ally, last year. Three medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. I think Daesh in Ramadi is exhausted.
According to another military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the press, 15 families had managed to escape from Hoz in the past 24 hours.
“We’re encouraged by this tactical development, which is a continuation of the progress we’ve seen over the last several weeks”, said Col. Steve Warren, a coalition spokesman.
Losing Ramadi, the capital of the sprawling western Anbar province and Iraq’s Sunni heartland, was a major blow to the Iraqi government in May this year. He lauded the government’s military campaign and looked ahead to the battle for Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which has been under Islamic State control since June 2014.
Major General Ismail Mahlawi, head of the Anbar Operations Command, said Isis fighters were acknowledging that they had “lost control” and were fleeing to the Isis-controlled town of Hit, 48km to the northwest.
Iraqi forces announced a counteroffensive shortly after Mosul fell but progress has been sluggish and clawing territory back from Islamic State has proven more hard than expected.
Government forces, which have been supported by daily airstrikes from the US-led coalition, had to move carefully through the devastated city, whose deserted streets were littered with rubble and shrapnel. Baghdad says that “hundreds” of ISIS fighters have been killed – an unlikely boast given that there may be fewer than 300 Islamic State forces left in the city.
Advertisement
The recapture of Ramadi would further isolate ISIL-held Fallujah – which lies half way on the road to Baghdad – and undermine the viability of the group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”.
