DC-Iraqi security forces are capable of retaking Ramadi, said the spokesperson for the US Anti-Islamic State Operations on Tuesday, warning in the meantime that strong defenses built by militants inside the city would make it a tough battle.
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“Iraqi ground forces recently trained and equipped by the coalition have been deployed around Ramadi in time for the decisive phase of this operation”, Army Col. Steve Warren, spokesperson for the the US-led coalition that has been combating IS, told reporters in a video briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday.
Ramadi fell to the Islamic State in May when Iraqi troops fled, prompting the U.S.to question their will to fight.
Army and Hashed fighters have also launched a broad offensive aimed at reviving efforts to recapture Baiji, a town about 200 km north of Baghdad, and the nearby refinery.
“We now believe that battlefield conditions are set for the ISF to push into the city”, Warren added, using an acronym for Iraqi Security Forces, which collapsed in Ramadi in May, allowing the Islamic State to capture the Sunni city.
After hours of fierce clashes with IS militants, the troops made slow progress in several districts in central Baiji, while the troops near Seiniyah recaptured a small airbase and cut a major supply route between Salahudin province and the adjacent Anbar province, the source said. “Aided by our strikes, Iraqi ground forces have advanced 15 kilometers over the last seven days and we have seen a few encouraging developments”.
The loss of Ramadi was the most damaging Iraqi setback this year.
It was not immediately clear whether the fighting on Wednesday against Islamic State, which holds swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria, had further damaged the refinery. Warren estimated between 600 and 1,000 IS fighters remain in Ramadi and suggested the city might come to be viewed as a high-water mark for the group.
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“With the combination of the recent successes that they’ve had, along with the increased air power and increased ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) that we’ve allocated to the Ramadi fight, we believe that now is the time for a final push”, Warren said.
