12 March 2015

Military operations are continuing in Ramadi following the four-pronged attack by ISIL yesterday on numerous districts, both within the city and on its outlying areas. Security forces have today killed at least 7 suicide bombers driving booby-trapped vehicles, as they tried to assault the 1st Division's 2nd Regiment near the 'Japanese Bridge' in eastern Ramadi. The suicide bombers and their vehicles were blown up and there were no army casualties, according to an Anbar Operations source. There have also been fierce clashes in the city's southwestern and southern sectors. Similar clashes have also been raging in the city's western sector. Many of the districts came under mortar fire that caused some injuries and major material damage to buildings and residences in the areas. Security forces have increased their presence in the city's central districts and a partial curfew has been imposed on the areas around the government complex. Low-flying aircrafts have been flying over the areas that ISIL gunmen tried to overrun yesterday.

In Garma, security forces have today reached the town's center while broad areas in the eastern part of the township that border the outlying areas of the capital, Baghdad, have been liberated.

In Fallujah, a General Hospital source has announced that 4 residents have been killed and 11 wounded by the clashes and the ongoing random bombardment between security forces on the city's perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city. A mass migration is underway from the city following reports that a military operation into the city is imminent. The gunmen, however are preventing the families from leaving, but some of them have been able to find a way out.

In Baghdadi, some families have been returning to their homes, especially in the town's southwestern districts that are now controlled by security forces.

Military forces are massing around Hit township, the strategic link between eastern and western Anbar. Iraqi and coalition airstrikes have also been targeting ISIL positions in southwestern Hit township. It is believed that the area holds a number of ISIL command posts and bomb-making and vehicle booby-trapping workshops No reports have yet emerged regarding ISIL casualties in these operations. Here also, a migration is underway, with numerous families heading for the capital or toward Anbar's western regions, in advance of a reported imminent military operation in the area.