In April 2015 the Islamic State (IS) made another attempt to
take Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar. The city has been a major
battlefield in Iraq since December 2013. Every few months IS has made a charge
into Ramadi only to be beaten back. Over that same period however the militants
have gained more ground and hold a larger sway over the city then they had
before.
The Islamic State’s most recent attempt to seize Ramadi up
ended the government’s plans for a major offensive in Anbar. On April
8 the head of the Anbar council announced that the latest security operation
in Shjariya just outside of Ramadi was the beginning of a larger campaign to
free the entire province. The next day IS attacked
Ramadi and a string of surrounding villages. The Iraqi Security Forces and the
Hashd al-Shaabi withdrew
from their positions in Ramadi to the Habaniya base to the south, opening the
way for the insurgents to move into large sections of the city. They then made
an attempt to seize
the government complex in downtown. By April 16, for example, an Anbar council said
that IS controlled most of the eastern part of the city, while a security
source was even direr telling the National
Iraqi News Agency that up to 70% of Ramadi had fallen. This caused a huge
humanitarian crisis as thousands of families began fleeing
the area. On April
19 major reinforcements arrived in the city to try to reverse the
situation. The panic caused by the militant surge had several locals claim that
the provincial capital was about to fall. In doing so, IS completely up ended
Baghdad’s plans for Anbar. Instead, major forces are once again being committed
to Ramadi to retake sections that have gone back and forth for the last
seventeen months.
Ramadi nearly fell to armed groups back in December 2013.
That month Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki decided to shut
down the protest site there under
the pretext that it had become a base for Al Qaeda in Iraq. Open fighting
broke out immediately, and there was one report that mosques could be heard in
the city calling
for jihad. Insurgents were able to burn
four police stations, and seized
the major entrances to Ramadi. On January 8, (1) Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha claimed
that 90% of the city had been retaken. Still the militants had a strong presence
in certain sections of the city such as 60th Street, Malaab, Howaz,
and Zankura. (2) By the middle of 2014 fighting had spread to places like Tamim
and Andalus.
These areas would be contested for months with sudden advances and then
collapses by both sides. That would characterize the combat in Anbar overall.
The back and forth nature of the fight for Ramadi was
highlighted at the end of 2014. For example, at the end of September
militants took three districts in the center of the city, as the army withdrew
to the Anbar Operations Command north of the city. It appeared then that Ramadi
was about to fall
once again as the insurgents were said to hold 60% of it. This was part
of a large offensive by IS in Anbar, which led to it taking Hit. By the middle
of October
the government forces began a counter attack, and with the support of Coalition
air strikes were able to push IS back over the following weeks. Then in
November, IS attacked again, this time using the element of surprise using
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) uniforms to fool the defenders. (3) Once again the
city center was threatened (4) with IS taking
the Anbar Directorate building. This once again raised fears that Ramadi was about
to be taken. The security forces were able to regain
some of the neighborhoods by the end of the month, only to have IS start another
attempt at the beginning of December and then again in the middle
of the month, only to be pushed back in early January
2015. The fact that IS was able to continuously threaten the government center
in the second half of last year showed that it had improved its position within
the city. By February
2015 for instance, a member of the Anbar council told Al Mada that 60% of the Ramadi
was in the hands of the Islamists. The fighting in April then, was just the
latest example of the militants trying to assert total control.
The Islamic State will likely be turned back once again in
Ramadi, but that obscures the strong position it holds in Anbar. The fact that
the city has been under such threat for over a year now shows the precarious
situation the province is in overall. The militants are said to control 80% or
more of the governorate, and it is one of the few places where IS still
launches major offensives. Today, many of the neighborhoods in Ramadi that were
once contested like 60th Street are said to be under its control.
Instead fighting seems to be concentrated in the downtown section more and
more. Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced that Anbar would be a new focus for
the government’s forces, but Ramadi shows how hard that will be. Major
reinforcements are being committed to take back what was just lost in the city rather
than going on the offensive. Because of the vast size of the governorate, when
those forces move on to other sections, IS will re-infiltrate and launch
another large attack in a month or two. Even with the Hashd, which has moved
back into Anbar in recent weeks, the government may simply lack the manpower to
hold many areas. When the Americans were in the country they faced a similar
problem until they made local alliances with tribes. Baghdad has reached out to
many of these same groups, but they and other local officials have continuously
complained that they are not getting the supplies and arms to match those owned
by the Islamic State. There are also suspicions amongst Shiite parties that any
weapons provided might fall into the hands of the enemy. Still, until locals
are adequately brought into the fight, Ramadi and the remaining sections of the
province under government control will remain under threat.
FOOTNOTES
1. National Iraqi News Agency, “Abu Risha: Anbar tribes and
police dominate on 90% of Ramadi,” 1/8/14
2. National Iraqi News Agency,
“The outbreak of clashes between the army and armed groups in Ramadi,” 2/14/14
3. National Iraqi News Agency, “The IS attacks Ramadi in
army uniform of 5 axes, with security and tribal reinforcements to repel the attack,”
11/23/14
4. National Iraqi News Agency, “The government complex in
central Ramadi came under mortar fire,” 11/23/14
SOURCES
Agence France Presse, “Iraq militants free prisoners, burn
police stations,” 1/1/14
- “Iraqi forces beat back assault on city, reinforce town,”
10/15/14
- “Tribes, police seize parts of Iraq city from militants,”
1/10/14
AIN, “Gunmen control police station central Ramadi,”
12/31/13
- “Security forces clash with
gunmen in Ramadi,” 2/15/14
- “Security forces liberate 5 areas in Anbar,” 12/25/14
- “Security forces liberate some areas central Ramadi,”
10/21/14
- “Urgent….4 tribes announce supporting ISF in Anbar,”
1/1/14
Ali, Ahmed, “Iraq Update 2014 #9: Anbar Standoff Continues
With Clashes in Ramadi and Fallujah,” Institute for the Study of War, 1/17/14
Alsumaria, “Daash control Anbar Directorate building central
Ramadi,” 11/25/14
-
“Daash imposes its control over two regions east of Ramadi after the withdrawal
of police and army,” 8/5/14
Al Forat, “ISF declares liberating Wafa’a area of ISIL,”
12/21/14
George, Susannah, “Key provincial capital in Iraq may be
about to fall to Islamic State,” McClatchy Newspapers, 11/26/14
Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Protect Anbar Residents From
Abuses,” 1/9/14
Al Jazeera, “Iraqi army launches major assault on Ramadi,”
1/19/14
Lewis, Jessica, Ali, Ahmed, and Adnan, Sinan, “ISIS
Offensives in Ramadi City and Al-Asad Airbase in Al-Anbar, Iraq,” Institute for
the Study of War, 12/24/14
Al Mada, “Albu Alwan Fighters: Daash besieged government compound
after entering the center of Ramadi,” 4/17/15
- “Albu Alwan tribe threatens to “withdraw” from Ramadi and
warns of its “fall within hours,”” 4/17/15
- “Anbar Council: Daash controls 60% of Ramadi,” 2/1/15
- “Anbar Council declares “cleanse” Albu Diab north of
Ramadi,” 10/17/14
- “Anbar: officers “hold truce” with the militants .. And
the targeting of 3 train stations “cut supplies” for the army,” 11/17/13
- “Anbar Operations regain control
of Qaim after the storming of Daash,” 6/17/14
- “Anbar police confirm the control of the security forces
on 70% of Ramadi,” 10/1/14
- “Army enters Khalidiya and violent clashes east of Ramadi
to coincide with the closure of Fallujah,” 1/20/14
- “Army troops withdraw from the city of Ramadi and
stationed in Anbar Operations Command headquarters north of the city,” 10/5/14
- “Daash approaching “the government complex,” the center of
Ramadi and warning of an imminent fall,” 4/17/15
- “Gunmen were about to occupy the Anbar government compound
.. and 700 Albu Alwan fighters prevented the fall of Ramadi,” 11/24/14
- “Joint force initiates process to cleanse Ramadi and its
surroundings from Daash with support of international air coalition,” 10/15/14
Naji, Jamal, Van Heuvelen, Ben, “Ramadi battles foreshadow
bloody campaign for Anbar,” Iraq Oil Report, 4/10/15
National Iraqi News Agency, “49 Citizens Killed, Wounded In
Ramadi Battles, Security Source Says,” 4/16/15
- “Abu Risha: Anbar
tribes and police dominate on 90% of Ramadi,” 1/8/14
- “Anbar Operations announces, police and tribes men
entirely control Ramadi city,” 1/6/14
- “Anbar police chief: Liberating /7/ km area in Ramadi from
the control of the IS,” 9/19/14
- “Anbar Police Chief: The Security Forces Controlled 85% of
the City of Ramadi,” 2/5/14
- “Army Helicopters Bombed Areas in Ramadi and Fallujah,”
2/7/14
- “Clashes erupt in Ramadi and
Fallujah between army and armed groups,” 2/13/14
- “Clashes Renewed Between the Army and Armed Groups in
Ramadi and Fallujah,” 1/25/14
- “Clashes renewed in Ramadi,” 1/1/14
- “The government complex in central Ramadi came under
mortar fire,” 11/23/14
- “The imposition of a curfew in the western and northern
areas of Ramadi,” 12/12/14
- “The IS attacks Ramadi in army uniform of 5 axes, with
security and tribal reinforcements to repel the attack,” 11/23/14
- “(IS) Takes Control on A district Nearby Government
Departments Complex Amid Ramadi,” 10/31/14
- “A massive campaign starts in Ramadi to expel armed
elements,” 7/28/14
- “The outbreak of clashes between
the army and armed groups in Ramadi,” 2/14/14
- “Security forces and the sons of
the tribes in Ramadi control al-Tash area and Street 60 after the expulsion of
the terrorists,” 6/21/14
- “A security source: Military units carried out operations
on the areas of the IS holed up in Ramadi,” 9/6/14
- “Shelling and Armed Clashes
Renewed in Ramadi,” 2/23/14
- “The start of a security crackdown to liberate Ramadi from
the control of the IS,” 11/14/14
New Sabah, “Anbar Council: We have 5 cities battling Daash
fiercely,” 10/13/14
Nordland, Rod, “Iraq Starts Drive Against ISIS, but Reports
on Scale Differ,” New York Times, 4/8/15
Prothero, Mitchell, “Islamic State proves resilient, presses
attack in Iraq’s Ramadi, Baiji,” McClatchy, 4/16/15
Radio Free Iraq, “02 December 2014, Daily Updates from
Anbar, 12/2/14
- “02 July 2014,” Daily Updates
from Anbar, 7/2/14
- “08 December 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 12/8/14
- “12 October 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 10/12/14
- “13 October 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 10/13/14
- “14 October 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 10/14/14
- “15 April 2015,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 4/15/15
- “15 December 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 12/15/14
- “15 October 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 10/15/14
- “19 April 2015,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 4/19/15
- “19 October 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 10/19/14
- “26 June 2014,” Daily Updates
from Iraq,” 6/26/14
- “26 November 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 11/26/14
- “28 September 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 9/28/14
- “29 November 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 11/29/14
Salaheddin, Sinan, “Iraqi police dismantle Sunni protest in
west,” Associated Press, 12/30/13
Shafaq News, “Maliki: Al-Qaeda has lost its safe haven in
the sit-in square,” 12/30/13
- “Security elements and tribes wage an attack on ISIS in
Ramadi and surround the terrorists inside homes,” 1/7/15
Shallal, Azhar, “Clashes kill 10 as Iraq forces clear Sunni
protest camp,” Agence France Presse, 12/30/13
Xinhua, “11 killed in insurgent
attacks in Iraq,” 2/13/14
- “IS militants seize new areas in Iraq’s Ramadi,” 4/15/15
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