Driving out ISIS from the city is among the priority of the Iraqi government offensives as population centers have provided the Islamic State a revenue base that allows them to control oil resources agricultural areas and gives them the advantage of planning attacks outside of the territory.
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Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating due to the appearance of Islamic State groups there.
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The Iraqi military and Shiite paramilitary fighters crossed the Euphrates River into the provincial capital through the improvised bridge in their attempt to take back Ramadi on Tuesday morning.
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Ramadi, which is only about 60 miles from Baghdad, is the capital of Iraq’s Sunni-majority al-Anbar Province.
It would provide a major psychological boost to Iraqi security forces after Islamic State militants seized a third of Iraq in a sweeping advance previous year.
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State launched 24 airstrikes against the terrorist group positions in Syria and in Iraq, particularly near Ramadi and Mosul, the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve announced in a statement on Thursday.
Officials estimated before the latest push into Ramadi that no more than 300 ISIL fighters remained holed up in the centre.
Iraqi forces have been backed by air strikes from the global coalition, led by the United States.
The Iraqi military further said that, the operation could be challenging and may last several days.
“There are no major fights now”, said Brigadier General Ahmed al-Bilawi, a commander of the Anbar emergency police units.
On Tuesday, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces pushed into the Dubbat and Aramil neighborhoods, about 3 kilometers (less than 2 miles) from the city center, said Gen. Ismail al-Mahallawi, the head of operations in Anbar province.
The city, about 110 kilometres west of Baghdad, has remained in the hands of the extremists for more than seven months.
Ramadi’s fall was the government’s biggest setback since ISIL fighters swept through areas in the country’s north and west – including Iraq’s second-biggest city of Mosul – in the summer of 2014.
“It could be symbolic in strengthening more local resistance in Anbar against ISIS, supported by Iraqi federal forces”, Mr Witty said.
It is noteworthy that non of the pro-Baghdad government Shi´ite militia participate in the campaign against Ramadi, supporting the notion that the recapture of Ramadi is likely to exacerbate both conflicts between Iraqi Kurds and Baghdad as well as the Sunni – Shi´ite tensions in he war-torn country. Soldiers were clearing bombs from roads and homes in districts of Ramadi they had already taken since launching their assault on the city on Tuesday, state TV said.
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To avoid inflaming sectarian tensions, the Iraqi government has rejected the aid of the Shia-dominated paramilitary force that helped retake the northern city of Tikrit.
