Iraqi army to start attack on Ramadi
IS stopping civilians leaving city
BAGHDAD, Dec 21, (Agencies): Iraq’s armed forces will start an operation to retake the western city of Ramadi from Islamic State militants very soon, army chief of staff Lt General Othman al-Ghanemi told state TV on Monday.
“There is an ongoing operation to control a sector in preparation of the onslaught on the city centre within the coming hours, God willing,” he said.
An Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman said earlier that Islamic State militants were preventing civilians from leaving Ramadi before the planned attack on the city, which fell under control of the organization in May.
Iraqi military planes on Sunday dropped leaflets on Ramadi, asking residents to leave within 72 hours and indicating safe routes for their exit.
Iraqi intelligence estimates the number of Islamic State fighters that are entrenched in the centre of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, at between 250 and 300.
Iraq on Monday welcomed an announcement by Turkey that it would pull its troops back from a base in northern Iraq, and said it hoped the withdrawal would be completed.
The deployment of around 150 troops to the camp
this month prompted Iraq to accuse Turkey of violating its sovereignty and lodge a formal complaint at the UN Security Council.
Turkey withdrew some troops to another base inside Iraq’s Kurdistan region last week and said it would continue to pull out of Nineveh province, where the camp is located. It did not say how many troops would be moved or where to.
“The council of ministers discussed the crisis with Turkey and reiterated its welcome of Turkey’s announcement that it will withdraw from Iraqi territory,” the Iraqi government said in a statement.
Turkey had said it was deploying the troops to train an Iraqi militia to fight Islamic State.
The United States and its allies, meanwhile, conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Monday.
In Iraq, a dozen strikes near four cities hit several Islamic State tactical units, vehicles, weapons caches, fighting positions and other targets, the Combined Joint Task Force said.
Six strikes hit near Mosul, the Islamic State stronghold in northern Iraq, and four near Ramadi, where the Iraqi military on Sunday asked civilians to leave the city before a planned offensive. The remaining two strikes in Iraq were near Bayji, the military said.
In Syria, three air strikes near Mar’a and Ayn Isa hit one tactical unit, among other targets, according to the statement.
The coalition also reported a strike near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa on Saturday, Dec 19, that hit five Islamic State gas and oil separation points and two crude oil collection points.
The strikes used attack, fighter, bomber, ground-attack, and remotely piloted aircraft against militant targets, the statement said.
Moscow and Paris have agreed to up efforts to share intelligence relating to the Islamic State jihadist group after the countries vowed to cooperate militarily on the issue.
“We have agreed to strengthen our exchange of military information, both on the strikes and the location of the different groups (in Syria),” French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said following talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.