Shi'ite Militias Mass for Possible Ramadi Offensive

by VOA News May 19, 2015

Iraqi security forces, as well as several thousand Shi'ite militia members, massed Tuesday outside the Iraqi city of Ramadi ahead of a possible offensive to try to recapture the Anbar provincial capital from Islamic State militants.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is a Shi'ite, made the decision to send in the militia, known as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization, to try to help retake the predominantly Sunni city, a move that could add to sectarian hostility in one of the most violent parts of Iraq.

In Ramadi, Sunni Islamic State fighters had set up defensive positions and laid landmines, witnesses told Reuters. As the group tightened its grip on the city, Islamists went from house to house in search of members of the police and armed forces and said they would set up courts based on Islamic Sharia law, witnesses said.

Repelled attack

Meanwhile, Shi'ite militiamen, as well as Iraqi forces and allied Sunni tribesmen, repelled an Islamic State militant attack late Monday near the town of Khalidiyah, outside Anbar's second largest city, Fallujah, Iraq's Asharqiya TV and The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

A Shi'ite militia commander told Iraqi state TV his men were also hoping to recapture the nearby town of Garma. He said his men, located on a bluff overlooking Nahiyat Garma, can see into the town. He insisted his men are awaiting orders to attack the city.

Meanwhile, the Anbar province council urged local Sunni volunteers to head to the Habaniya air base or the Fallujah operations center to reorganize and then help "liberate" Ramadi from terrorists.

​​The Anbar provincial council also urged the government in Baghdad to reopen a bridge leading into the capital, where thousands of refugees from Ramadi remain stranded. Shi'ite Interior Minister Mohamed Gadbhan said the bridge had been closed to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Baghdad.

A military operation with Shi'ite militias, carried out alongside Iraqi government forces, would resemble one the same paramilitary troops took part in last month to regain control of Tikrit. That effort halted Islamic State momentum toward the capital, Baghdad, from the north, and now the focus is on preventing an advance from the west of the city.

Iraq's Defense Ministry also released a video Tuesday showing the rescue of 28 soldiers after the Islamic State group seized Ramadi in several days of fighting that sent Iraqi troops fleeing and prompted Abadi to call for militia help.

The White House said Monday that U.S. President Barack Obama is receiving regular briefings on the situation.

Spokesman Eric Schultz also reiterated U.S. support to Iraqis battling to retake the city.

Blueprint to defeat IS

Earlier this year, Obama sent to Congress a draft proposal outlining a U.S. plan for defeating the Islamic State group. House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that Obama should withdraw that proposal and 'start over."

"With new gains made by ISIL in Ramadi, we know that hope is not a strategy," Boehner, of Ohio, said in a statement. "The president's plan isn't working. It's time for him to come up with a real, overarching strategy to defeat the ongoing terrorist threat.

'We don't have a strategy, and ... for over two years now I've been calling on the president to develop an overarching strategy to deal with this growing terrorist threat. We don't have one. And the fact is, the threat is growing faster than what we and our allies can do to stop it,' he added.

The United States and its allies conducted 21 airstrikes since early Monday targeting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the Combined Joint Task Force carrying out the operations said on Tuesday.

In Iraq, four airstrikes destroyed vehicles and an excavator near Ramadi, which Islamic State militants recently captured. Ten other strikes in Iraq hit near towns including Bayji, Sinjar and Fallujah, among others.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he was 'absolutely confident' the situation could be reversed within days.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Islamic State gains at Ramadi 'a serious setback for its long-suffering inhabitants.' He said such setbacks are 'regrettable, but not uncommon in warfare.'

'Humanitarian catastrophe'

Authorities said, since Friday, the fighting in Ramadi has killed at least 500 people.

Sabah Karhout Al Helbusi, head of the Anbar provincial council, also told VOA's Kurdish service Monday that a 'humanitarian catastrophe' was under way in the city.

The International Organization for Migration said 40,000 people had been forced to flee Ramadi in the past four days, while a United Nations spokesman said 6,500 families have been displaced, with most fleeing eastward toward Fallujah and Khalidiyah.

The spokesman said U.N. agencies and others are delivering aid, including food, tents and mobile medical units. But U.N. agencies warned that their stocks are running low and funds are running out.

Cindy Saine contributed to this report from the Capitol Hill. Edward Yeranian contributed to this report from Cairo. Some material for this report came from Reuters and AP.