Iraqi army storms Ramadi

[Bleipriester]

I remember the sad predictions some forum members made when ISIS captured the provincial capital but now the Iraqi army is back.

"Two months after losing the provincial capital of the Al-Anbar (Al-Ramadi) Governorate to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have restarted their military operations inside this province.

The Iraqi Army’s 5th Division – in cooperation with Hashd Al-Sha’abi, Liwaa Al-Badr, and local tribesmen – stormed the southern perimeter of Al-Ramadi on Sunday morning, capturing the entire Al-‘Anbar University campus after fierce clashes with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham inside this provincial capital in west Iraq.


Firefights are still ongoing between the Iraq Armed Forces and ISIS inside Al-Ramadi’s southern perimeter; however, the Iraqi Army’s 5th Division has advanced this morning, capturing a number of building blocks from the terrorist group.

In addition to their assault on Al-Ramadi, the Iraqi Armed Forces have continued their offensive near the city of Fallujah, killing scores of enemy combatants, while also destroying a half dozen armored vehicles mounted with a variety of anti-aircraft machine guns.

Meanwhile, northeast of Fallujah, the Iraqi Armed Forces targeted ISIS at the city of Karma, where they attempted to break-through the terrorist group’s frontline defenses; however, ISIS was able to maintain their positions amid the powerful assault by the Iraqi Armed Forces."

Iraqi Security Forces Storm Al-Ramadi Al-Anbar University Captured

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Armed Forces Cutoff ISIS’ Final Supply Route to Al-Ramadi: Train Station Captured

"On Sunday morning, the Iraqi Army’s 8th Brigade – in coordination with Hashd Al-Sha’abi and Al-‘Anbar tribesmen – carried out a powerful assault on the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) defensive positions at the Al-Ramadi Train Station, killing scores of enemy combatants from the terrorist group before they were able to impose full control over this area.

As a result of their successful assault on Al-Ramadi Train Station, the Iraqi Armed Forces were able to reach ISIS’ primary supply route, where they were able to overpower the terrorist group’s armed combatants after a series of intense firefights.


Following the intense clashes with the terrorist group, the Iraqi Armed Forces were able to take control of the checkpoint that sits on the road leading to ISIS’ positions inside the provincial capital of the Al-‘Anbar Governorate; this now leaves them without access to their strongholds in the western part of the province.

In addition to their success at the Al-Ramadi Train Station, the Iraqi Armed Forces advanced into the provincial capital’s southern districts of Al-Thoubat, Albu Dhiyab, and Al-Bakr, leaving ISIS completely cutoff from the territory south of Al-Ramadi.

While this success is promising for the Iraqi Armed Forces, there is still a significant amount of fighting left as the provincial capital is still 75 percent under ISIS’ control."

Iraqi Armed Forces Cutoff ISIS Final Supply Route to Al-Ramadi Train Station Captured

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Advancing Across the Country: Significant Gains Made at Ramadi

"Since the fall of Al-Ramadi in May of 2015, the Iraq Security Forces (ISF) have received a great deal of criticism for the loss of this provincial capital of the Al-‘Anbar Governorate, despite making significant gains across the country.

The Iraq Security Forces – with the help of Hashd Al-Sha’abi and local militias – have turned the tide of the battle for the Al-‘Anbar Governorate (ISIS stronghold), as they have reentered Al-Ramadi and launched a number of offensives that include the cities of Karma and Fallujah in west Iraq.

On Wednesday morning, the Iraqi Army – backed by Hashd Al-Sha’abi – stormed ISIS’ positions at the Al-Zeitoun District and the General Directorate for Traffic in Al-‘Anbar (west of Ramadi), capturing these areas after a series of intense firefights.


The following day, the Iraqi Security Forces continued their onslaught near Al-Ramadi, advancing to the Federal Police Building and the town of Al-Husaybah, where they encountered another large contingent from the terrorist group – firefights are still ongoing between the two parties.

In addition to their offensive in Al-Ramadi, the Iraqi Security Forces announced their latest offensive on Samarra Island; this is another ISIS stronghold that the ISF is attempting to recapture from the terrorist group.

The Fallujah front has recently intensified, as the Iraqi Security Forces pounded away at ISIS’ military installments around the city on Wednesday; this led to the ISF’s capture of the Fallujah Leather Factory.

North of Fallujah, Iraqi Army engineers dismantled hundreds of IEDs that were planted along the road leading to the aforementioned city in the Al-‘Anbar Governorate."

Iraqi Army Advancing Across the Country: Significant Gains Made at Ramadi

 

[Bleipriester]

Don’t Count Them Out: Iraqi Army Makes Huge Strides in the ISIS Heartland

"The Iraqi Army – in coordination with Hashd Al-Sha’abi, local tribesmen, and Liwaa Al-Badr – have made substantial gains inside the Al-‘Anbar Governorate in the last 72 hours after they successfully broke-through the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s frontline positions at the town of Al-Hamidiyah near the provincial capital.

On Monday morning, the Iraqi Army and popular committees burst through ISIS’ defenses at the imperative town of Al-Hamidiyah and took control of the eastern district, while killing over 20 enemy combatants from the terrorist group.


In addition to their success at the Al-Hamidiyah front, the Iraqi Security Forces and popular committees – led by Hashd Al-Sha’abi – took control of the Petrol Station and the Brick Factory in Al-Ramadi, forcing the terrorist group to retreat towards the city-center in order to evade the Anti-ISIS Coalition and Iraqi Air Force’s imminent airstrikes on their positions.

Despite their poor portrayal by western publications, the Iraqi Army and popular committees are winning the battle against ISIS; in fact, since November of 2014, the aforementioned army has gained a significant amount of ground in the Salahiddeen and Diyala Governorates.

Now, the Iraqi Security Forces and popular committees begin their war against the terrorist group inside their heartland; these cities like Al-Heel, Fallujah, and Al-Karma were once untouchable for the Iraqi Armed Forces, but now, they are all under attack by the latter."

Don't Count Them Out: Iraqi Army Makes Huge Strides in the ISIS Heartland

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Makes Massive Gains in ISIS’ Heartland: ISIS in Danger at Ramadi

"Over the weekend, the Iraqi Air Force dropped hundreds of pamphlets to the civilians living inside the provincial capital of the Al-‘Anbar Governorate in order to urge them to evacuate the city for safer quarters because the Iraqi Armed Forces were restarting major operations there.

The Iraqi Armed Forces kept their word: earlier this week, the Iraqi Army’s 5th and 7th Divisions – in coordination with Anbari Tribesmen – conducted a massive operation to capture the northern suburbs of Al-Ramadi; this contingency came to fruition when the aforementioned units took control of Al-‘Adnaniyah, Albu Farad, the 5 Kilo, Albu Risha, and Zankoura suburbs

Following their success, the Iraqi Armed Forces successfully cutoff the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s strategic supply route to west Al-Ramadi after fierce clashes along the International Highway that stretches from Zankoura to Al-Heet in central Al-‘Anbar.


In addition to the assault on northern Al-Ramadi, the Iraqi Army’s paratroopers were airdropped into the provincial capital’s central district to carry out a special operation inside of 17th Street – the aforementioned operation was successful.

As a result of this operation, the Iraqi Security Forces are now fighting ISIS at the outer edges of Central Al-Ramadi; this has left the terrorist group in panic, as they are now surrounded from three sides.

Elsewhere, the ISIS field commander “Fadhil Al-Ansari” was reportedly killed by the Iraqi Security Forces during an operation outside of Fallujah – 20 of his fighters were also reportedly killed.

The Iraqi Armed Forces and popular committees also made several advances in central Iraq after they captured Khat Al-Layn from ISIS; this was the terrorist group’s primary oil smuggling route in central Iraq."

Iraqi Army Makes Massive Gains in ISIS' Heartland: ISIS in Danger at Ramadi

 

[Billo_Really]

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Surrounds Al-Ramadi Amid ISIS’ Failed Baiji Operation

"The Iraqi Army and their allies have been on a roll lately, capturing several sites from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) inside the terrorist group’s heartland (Al-Anbar Governorate), while also forestalling the latter’s advance at the imperative city of Baiji in the Salaheddine Governorate.

Recently, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) – in coordination with Anbari Tribesmen and their popular committees – have captured the northern suburbs of the Al-Anbar Governorate’s provincial capital (Al-Ramadi) after losing this large desert city during the terrorist group’s large-scale offensive in May of 2015.


In addition to their success in northern al-Ramadi, the Iraqi Security Forces and their allies have cutoff the terrorist group’s main supply route from their stronghold in Al-Heet to their fighters in the provincial capital’s west district; this will pay dividends for the Iraqi Army as they continue to recapture large chunks of territory lost to ISIS.

ISIS is facing complete encirclement in Al-Ramadi and with their defenses collapsing in the once untouchable cities of Al-Karma and Fallujah; it is beginning to look like its going to be a rough winter for the terrorist group.

Meanwhile, in central Iraq, the once promising ISIS offensive in the strategic city of Baiji has now turned sour, as the Iraqi Armed Forces have forestalled the terrorist group’s advance, while also recapturing lost territory in the process."

Iraqi Army Surrounds Al-Ramadi Amid ISIS' Failed Baiji Operation

 

[Bleipriester]

Russia would Consider Extending Air Strikes to Iraq if Requested

"Russia will consider extending its air strikes against militants in Syria to Iraq if it receives such a request from Baghdad, the RIA news agency quoted the head of the country’s upper chamber of parliament as saying on Tuesday.

The speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, said Russia had so far not received such a request from the Iraqi government.

“In case of an official address from Iraq to the Russian Federation, the leaders of our country would study the political and military expediency of our Air Force’s participation in an air operation. Presently we have not received such an address,” Matviyenko told reporters on Tuesday during an official visit to Jordan. She also asked the press “to stop reading tea leaves” before actual events take place.


“I want to emphasize that Russia has no other political objectives and no interests other than the defeat of ISIS [formerly ISIS/ISIL]and that differs us from other nations that participate in another coalition,” Interfax news agency quoted Matviyenko as saying at a meeting with the head of the Jordanian Senate, President Abdur-Ra’uf Rawabdeh.

She also said that Russian authorities understood the necessity of political reforms in Syria, but the final decision on the nature of these reforms and future head of the Syrian state must be made by Syrian people without any external pressure or direct interference of foreign nations.

During the meeting with her Jordanian colleague, Matviyenko stated that Russia was calling upon all states that see the Islamic State as a threat to join the information center in Baghdad used by Russian, Iraqi, Syrian and Iranian security specialists and military. She added that Russia was ready for other forms of cooperation with all nations that share the common goal of fighting international terrorism."

Russia would Consider Extending Air Strikes to Iraq if Requested

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Launches Fresh Offensive to Cutoff Main ISIS Supply Line to Baiji

"On Saturday, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) – in coordination with Hashd Al-Sha’abi, Kata’ebat Hezbollah, and local tribesmen – launched a fresh offensive in the imperative city of Baiji after withstanding the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) repeated attempts to take full-control of this desert area in the Salaheddine Governorate of central Iraq.

The primary focus for the Iraqi Security Forces and the popular committees will be the main supply route for the terrorist group in the eastern district of Baiji; this supply route is ISIS’ lifeline inside the city and a major thorn in the Iraqi Armed Forces’ side due to its wide-open highway that leads to this oil rich desert area.


For ISIS, Baiji is an integral military endeavor due to its proximity to the city of Tikrit and the Salaheddine Governorate’s main highway that leads to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad; if captured by the terrorist group, they will be in position to launch an offensive to reenter the Tikirt area and wreck havoc on the tribal forces protecting it.

Securing the nearby towns of Al-Salaam will be crucial for the Iraqi Security Forces, as it is one of the terrorist group’s major supply hubs inside the Salaheddine Governorate."

Iraqi Army Launches Fresh Offensive to Cutoff Main ISIS Supply Line to Baiji

 

[Vikrant]

One thing for sure, all Shia countries are now firmly in Russian camp.

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Makes Significant Progress Inside Baiji, Al-Baghdadi, and Al-Ramadi

"The Iraqi Army is on a roll inside the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) heartland, retaking several sites from the aforementioned terrorist group in the last 48 hours.

On Wednesday morning, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) – in coordination with local tribesmen and popular committees – captured the strategic Majid Checkpoint and Communication Tower to the east of Al-Baghdadi city in the Al-‘Anbar Governorate of west Iraq after intense firefights with ISIS that stretched to the late afternoon.

On the outskirts of the provincial capital of the Al-‘Anbar Governorate, the Iraqi Army’s 16th Brigade – in coordination with their popular committees – captured the Residential Complex inside the village of Al-Tamim, furthering the plight of the ISIS terrorists holed-up in the city of Al-Ramadi.


Meanwhile, in the Baiji countryside of the Salaheddeen Governorate, Hashd Al-Sha’abi has reportedly captured the village of Makhoul after launching a counter-assault against the terrorist group in this area.

In addition to their success outside of Baiji, the Iraqi Security Forces and their popular committees have surrounded ISIS at the Baiji Oil Refinery, capturing the remaining oil plants and plaster substance factories encompassing the northeastern outskirts of this strategic site.

The Iraqi Army and popular committees have made significant progress in the last two months, capturing several towns from the terrorist group’s possession, while also storming the ISIS heartland in the Al-‘Anbar Governorate; if they continue down this route, they will be able to retake Al-Ramadi and Baiji."

Iraqi Army Makes Significant Progress Inside Baiji, Al-Baghdadi, and Al-Ramadi

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Army Makes a Huge Push in Western Iraq

"Iraqi forces defused booby traps and hunted down holdout jihadists in the strategic Baiji area Friday as part of their biggest advance against the Takfiri group, ISIL, in months.

Baiji lies at a crossroads between several frontlines and control of the area is seen as the key to progress in other regions, including Anbar province where forces were also closing in on ISIL strongholds.

Iraq’s army, police and counter-terrorism services, as well as thousands of fighters from the Popular Mobilization (Hashed al-Shaabi), continued to gain significant ground in and around Baiji, officers said.

“Iraqi forces are moving deep into Baiji, they have retaken the industrial area and several other neighborhoods,” an army colonel told AFP.

“We control about 60 percent of the city, there are not so many Daesh fighters left and they are trapped,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.


After retaking most of the refinery to the north of the city, security forces were sweeping the sprawling complex for bombs and die-hard Takfiris.

“Inside the refinery, our forces are defusing booby traps and looking for the last Daesh terrorists we believe are still holed up in some buildings,” he said.

The refinery, which once produced 300,000 barrels per day of refined products meeting half of Iraq’s needs, is said to have been damaged beyond repair and to no longer be of huge strategic interest.

The same officer also said that Iraqi forces had completely surrounded Sinniya, a town west of Baiji on the road leading to Anbar.

“We are firing large numbers of rockets and missiles, while Iraqi warplanes are also striking. This will prepare the ground for an operation to cleanse Sinniya,” he said."

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-army-makes-a-huge-push-in-western-iraq/

 

[Bleipriester]

Iraqi Forces Push North in a Bid to Reshape Battlefield

"Iraqi forces pressed Saturday their biggest offensive in months to resume their long-stalled northward advance and disrupt militants lines, security officers said.

After recapturing parts of Baiji and the huge nearby refinery complex from the ISIL terrorist group, security and allied paramilitary forces thrust further northward up the main highway leading to Mosul.

They reached the town of Zawiyah and vowed to push on to Sharqat, the northernmost town in Salaheddin province before the border with Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.

“Iraqi forces are besieging the villages of Msahaq and Zawiyah,” about 25 kilometers (16 miles) north of Baiji, a senior officer in Salaheddin operations command said.


Reclaiming control of that stretch of road and the villages along it would contribute to isolating ISIL strongholds east of the Tigris, such as Hawijah, from the self-proclaimed caliphate’s heartland on the other side of the river.

“Retaking Zawiyah would divide the battlefield; Daesh will be in an awkward position,” retired general and security analyst Abdel Karim Khalaf said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.

“Their transport towards Tikrit and Ramadi will be complicated, the secondary itineraries are long and difficult,” he said.

Iraqi forces, including thousands of fighters from the Popular Mobilization organization, were still battling ISIL in and around Baiji Saturday.

Further west along the Euphrates, Iraqi troops were fighting to retake the town of Baghdadi."

Iraqi Forces Push North in a Bid to Reshape Battlefield

 

[Bleipriester]

News Alert: Strategic City of Baiji Liberated by the Iraqi Security Forces

"The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) Baiji campaign has ended in a devastating defeat at the hands of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Hashd Al-Sha’abi after two months of non-stop fighting at this strategic city inside the Salahiddeen Governorate of central Iraq.

For two weeks, the Iraqi Army and the popular committees – led by Hashd Al-Sha’abi – combatting ISIS near the imperative Baiji Oil Refinery and its surrounding oil plants, where the terrorist group took refuge after sustaining a heavy loss of military personnel and equipment.


The liberation of Baiji was led by Hashd Al-Sha’abi and the Iraqi Army, who continuously combatted the encroaching ISIS fighters attempting to take full control of this city; this serious threat from the terrorist group prompted the Iraqi Army’s Central Command to restart operations inside of Baiji and force ISIS to leave the area once and for all.

In addition to their capture of Baiji, the Iraqi Security Forces and popular committees took full control of Albu Jawari after they advanced their positions from the Baiji Oil Refinery.

With Baiji liberated, the Iraqi Security Forces will turn their attention to the imperative ISIS strongholds of Al-Ramadi (provincial capital of the Al-Anbar Governorate), Karma (long-time Jihadist stronghold), and Al-Fallujah (long-time Jihadist stronghold)."

News Alert: Strategic City of Baiji Liberated by the Iraqi Security Forces

 

[Bleipriester]

News:

Third Update from the Ramadi battle against ISIS
Iraqi Forces cross the Euphrates in Ramadi while also liberating half of Albu Ziyab from ISIS

 

[eagle1462010]

Good.............finally they are standing on their own...................Of course with help from Iran...............

Hurry up and take back the country so we don't have to do it.

 

[Bleipriester]

Ramadi has been liberated!

Iraqi Forces triumph at Ramadi amid the skeptics

 

[montelatici]

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,”

Ben Tre, South Vietnam.