The U.S. urged Iraqi officials in recent days not to pull back troops from the front lines against Islamic State to protect Baghdad after the extremist group unleashed a deadly string of bombings, according to a spokesman for the U.S. -led coalition.
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Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi security forces pushed a few hundred ISIS fighters out the remote western town of Rubtah that falls along a highway stretching from Baghdad to Jordan.
In response to the attacks – which have killed over 100 civilians and deeply unnerved the capital city – Iraqi officials were considering pulling some troops back to Baghdad for added security.
Security forces and citizens inspect the scene after a suicide vehicle bomb hit a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad’s eastern Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, Iraq, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. “We want to make sure that their victories are irreversible”.
USA officials say they have squeezed the Islamic State on multiple fronts, damaging their ability to raise revenue from oil, destroying substantial cash stockpiles, eliminating more than 120 of their key leaders since the start of 2015 and reducing the amount of territory they control by 45 per cent in Iraq and by 20 per cent in Syria.
He emphasized the importance of Iraqi security forces entering Rutbah in the last week.
Coalition spokesman U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren described IS resistance in Rutba as “moderate to light”, but said the Iraqis were still clearing enemy forces.
The militants have also waged a bombing campaign in Baghdad that USA and Iraqi military officials say is created to delay efforts to retake those cities.
In addition to its linkage to Syria, Rutba was considered an important “support zone” which Islamic State was using to stage operations into battle areas further north and east. The group has been carrying out attacks on the West – such as those in Brussels and Paris – as well as in places like Baghdad, where ISIS has claimed responsibility for a recent wave of suicide bombings.
“We know that ISIS has been driven out of about 40 per cent of the populated areas that ISIS previously controlled in Iraq”. Without discussing specifics about US troop involvement, he said the American public should know that “it is going to be a long and hard fight”.
The U.S. military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria is taking a fundamental shift, according to a top U.S. military commander.
The Islamic State has executed 25 purported “Iraqi spies” by lowering them into a Value-Added Tax of nitric acid, where they remained until their organs dissolved.
“We’ve been very clear about the mission that USA forces in Iraq are pursuing”, he said, adding that the U.S. strongly condemns the yesterday’s ISIS bombings.
Rutbah was captured by IS in June 2014 shortly after the northern city of Mosul fell, but its desert surroundings were home to the group’s training camps and bases before the group captured territory.
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12,199 As of May 10, the United States and its anti-ISIS coalition have conducted a total of 12,199 air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
