05 October 2014

In western Anbar, ISIL forces have seized more than 90% of Hit, and have taken the Kubaysa area without a fight. They are now also in control of the Muhammadi area that lies between Hit and Ramadi. They have also seized Dulab village that lies on the fringes of the Baghdadi township where they blew up the village police station, in addition to the police station in Muhammadi.
Reliable witnesses have reported today that the gunmen have executed 3 local policemen in the center of Hit.

Coalition warplanes have flown sorties and launched strikes against the gunmen's position in Hit's Industrial Zone.

Stringent security measures are being enforced in Baghdadi to prevent the gunmen from seizing the Ayn al-Asad military base, one of Iraq's largest military bases. Security sources say that they are expecting the armed groups to launch an attack on Ramadi in order to achieve complete control of the city.

The Anbar Council today called on the central government and the coalition forces to launch military attacks and to provide the governorate with weapons and munitions, and to prepare volunteers, in order to defend the governorate from further expansion by the gunmen.

In Salahuddin province, Dulu'iya township which was described yesterday as being under government control, has once again lost wide stretches of its area to the gunmen.

The Salahuddin Province Council has affirmed that the security operation there is still underway and has called on coalition and Iraqi army forces to escalate the intensity of airstrikes in order to degrade the strength of the armed groups that have seized new territories and blown up two vital bridges in the region. Military operations are also continuing in the the southwestern sector of Tikrit.

Meanwhile, volunteers and tribal forces have arrived today in some parts of Salahuddin Province. They are gathering in the Kurdistan region to undergo training prior to their deployment into Salahuddin. The number of volunteers has now exceeded 15,000 men.

The security situation in Anbar and its neighboring provinces has resulted in stringent measures that are preventing displaced families from returning to their homes.

Meanwhile the gunmen have begun using high-tech arms and ammunition that they have captured from the military bases and police centers and this has redoubled their capabilities.