Iraqi military forces said Thursday that they have retaken the desert town of Rutbah from the Islamic State group after a two-day battle during which commanders said they countered limited resistance from the militants.
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Indeed, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday the USA does not have plans to adjust its strategy away from the conventional fight it expects the Iraqis will have to face in places like the key city of Mosul, and instead toward the kind of counterinsurgency effort needed to defeat Islamic extremists in Iraq during the last war there.
General Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, says he is watching how Iraq’s government responds to the recent spate of ISIS attacks in Baghdad for any signs that the Abadi government may pause their current anti-ISIS campaign to deal with protecting the capital city. Last month, Iraqi forces took back the town of Hit, and in February the provincial capital Ramadi was declared fully liberated from IS.
Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said Wednesday that the May 13 strike killed Abu Hamza and Abu Safiya, as well as a third militant.
The Iraqi army, federal police and Sunni tribal fighters are also participating in the offensive, which began on Monday when those forces began approaching Rutba from multiple directions.
“Iraq’s security forces, backed by coalition military airpower and the advice and assistance of coalition militaries from around the world, has been effective in driving ISIL out of territory that they previously controlled”, Earnest said.
Beyond the recapturing of Rutba, U.S. officials were focused mainly on preparing Iraqi security forces for an assault on Mosul, which is ISIS’s main stronghold in the country.
“I am really reluctant to make predictions, ” he said, adding “we are trying really hard to make that happen”.
Asked whether he was anxious that political unrest in Baghdad, which has left the Iraqi parliament in limbo for weeks, might be a hindrance to further Iraqi military progress, Votel said, “There is a little concern” that it could divert Iraq’s focus from objectives like retaking Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. The Islamic State has also launched a series of deadly attacks in the capital, including suicide vehicle bombings, apparently with the aim of sowing further discord within the government and causing the government to pull some of its forces away from Mosul to help defend Baghdad. “We expect we will be able to reach the centre of Rutba tomorrow morning”, Numan said by telephone, indicating it was about one kilometre (mile) from the forces’ current position. “It’s the center of gravity here”.
For one, they likely wish to hold down Iraq’s strained armed forces, roughly half of which are stationed in Baghdad to maintain security.
MacFarland described an Iraqi military leadership of vastly different levels of competence.
He added: “Other times you look at them and say, ‘Eh, this guy may not be cutting it'”. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
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Just after the protest, Sadr left the country for Tehran, in a move that was seen by many as Iran ordering him back before the situation spiraled out of control.
