16 December 2014

The Ramadi General Hospital announced today that it has received the dead bodies of small children who had been making their way on foot out of the Wafa'a district of western Ramadi into the surrounding desert areas, fleeing the ISIL presence there.

Sheikh Na'eem Al-Gu'oud, told RFI by phone that more than 5,000 Bu-Nimr tribal members are now surrounded by ISIL gunmen in the villages west of Ramadi, all the way to Hit. The gunmen are preventing anyone from entering or leaving those areas.

Sheikh Raf'i Abdul-Karim Al-Fahdawi, the leader of the Bu-Fahd tribe and the leader of the Anbar Awakenings, has confirmed that the weapons that have been received to arm the tribal fighters are defective.

Meanwhile in Haditha, an ISIL attack on the town is reported to have been repelled and a number of the gunmen have been killed, according to an Anbar Police source. A would-be suicide bomber was killed as he tried to penetrate into the township from the south.

The Police Commander also announced today that Ramadi is fully under the control of the security forces, denying all the rumors about the alleged ISIL advances into the city's districts. But security sources are saying that clashes have taken place in the city's southern districts.

Also today, an ISIL military commander and their Emir in western Ramadi, was killled in the 7km district. However, his name and nationality are still unknown.

In Fallujah, the general hospital announced today that at least 4 residents have been killed and 7 wounded, mostly women and children.

A broadly-based tribal meeting was held today in Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, to review the overall situation, especially the security situation. It renewed calls on the central government to provide the township with arms and ammunition, as it is being subjected daily to attempts by ISIL gunmen to overrun the town.