15 June 2015

The Deputy Prime Minister, Baha’a Al-A’araji today visited the eastern Husayba area east of Ramadi where he observed the latest preparations for the launch of a broad military operation to liberate Ramadi. The Deputy PM was accompanied by a large number of commanders and parliamentary Deputies involved in overseeing the security situation throughout Iraq. The visit coincided with the arrival of new military equipment in Anbar. All of the security forces’ commanders had previously confirmed that preparations are in full swing for the impending military operation in Ramadi.

Meanwhile, security forces have launched a number of limited military operations all around the outskirts of the city. Iraqi air support and Coalition warplanes have also attacked a number of ISIL positions in central Ramadi. Eleven gunmen are reported to have been killed. Meanwhile ISIL have set up large video screens in Ramadi’s public areas, to show footage of the victories they have achieved over the past 18 months in Iraq. ISIL has also continued to forbid families from leaving the city. All of the roads around Ramadi have been mined and booby-trapped, to thwart the advance of security forces.

Coalition warplanes today launched air strikes against targets in Baghdadi, Kubaisa, and Saqlawiya.

In Baghdadi township, ISIL gunmen have attacked the Jubba area in the township’s southwestern sector. The attackers used a number of explosives-rigged vehicles and mortar bombardment in their assault on the areas controlled by security forces. The attack was repelled by security forces, Iraqi air support, and Coalition air strikes.

In and around Garma, fierce fighting is continuing, with security forces now in control of the surrounding areas and the areas separating Anbar from Salahuddin Province. Families have begun to return to Garma’s liberated districts while fighting is continuing for the control of the town’s center.

In Fallujah, reports are still emerging regarding an imminent all-out assault on the city, while the ISIL gunmen within the city have been preventing civilian families from leaving the city. Some residential districts have been hit by mortar fire, killing 2 residents and wounding 6. 

13 November 2014

In Hit township today, ISIL has executed at least 16 members of the Bu-Nimr tribe, including 2 children and a woman. They were executed because their family members were formerly with the Awakenings in Hit. A source in the Bu-Nimr tribe has announced that ISIL are holding 100 hostages and will execute them in the coming hours if the Iraqi army embarks on an assault against Hit. The Bu-Nimr hostages include a number of women and children.

A major security operation is underway in Ramadi on three fronts: the southwestern and western front targeted a number of districts; the second was concentrated on the rural areas across the Euphrates which have been liberated to a large extent by the security forces; the third front covered the eastern outskirts of Ramadi. The forces have killed a number of ISIL gunmen, while Iraqi aircraft carried out a number of raids. According to an Anbar Operations source, at least 35 gunmen have been killed in the rural areas across the river.

It was announced today that fighting units totaling 5,000 men have been formed, consisting mainly of tribal fighters and local Anbar security forces, in apparent preparation for the start of a broad military operation into Hit, Kubaisa, and Baghdadi that form the area lying between Haditha and Ramadi.

In Fallujah today, 4 residents were wounded by the ongoing exchange of bombardments between security forces  and the ISIL gunmen holding the city.

09 November 2014

ISIL has achieved revenge for the attempt yesterday by security forces to penetrate into Hit Township. Bu-Nimr tribal sources have announced that ISIL has executed more than 70 tribal members, and there are more than 300 who are listed as missing. It is thought that they are being held in prisons within the township.

Military operations have continued overnight in Baghdadi and in the Kubaisa area west of Hit. The SWAT commander in Baghdadi, Col. Sha'aban Al-Obaidi, has confirmed that security forces have repelled an ISIL attack aimed at taking the area. 11 gunmen were killed while trying to infiltrate the areas.

An Anbar Council source has confirmed that the airstrike against a gathering of ISIL members was indeed targeting the ISIL leadership, including its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi who is believed to have been severely wounded in the attack, and has been moved into Syrian territory. Further similar airstrikes are expected.

The Anbar Council held a press conference today, during which its leader confirmed that several meetings have been held with tribal leaders and religious scholars aimed at shedding light on all the issues of concern in the Province.

On the humanitarian front, Baghdadi and its surrounding areas are suffering the effects of the total blockade by ISIL forces that has prevented any food or fuel from reaching these areas. Amiriyat Al-Fallujah is also being subjected to a stranglehold blockade that has caused serious food and fuel shortages.

Meanwhile the Fallujah General Hospital announced today that 3 residents have been killed and 11 wounded by the bombardment exchanges between the security forces surrounding the city and the ISIL gunmen within it.

08 November 2014

In the 35km area west of Ramadi, a car-bomb was detonated at a security checkpoint manned by army personnel from a nearby barracks. Seven army personnel were killed by the blast and 11 were wounded.

In the areas around Hit, an extended military operation liberated 8 villages by driving out the ISIL gunmen. Security forces are now in full control of the area and are highly motivated to take over all of Hit from the gunmen.

A major migration has been underway today by the residents of Kubaisa township, as a result of reports that the security forces are planning an assault against the gunmen who have been holding the township for more than one month.

19 July 2014

In Fallujah, heavy shelling has targeted numerous districts, killing 9 residents and wounding at least 17 others, amid clashes between gunmen within the city and security forces surrounding the city. Air strikes have also targeted a number of barracks within the city, resulting in many civilian casualties, most of them women and children.

In Al-Garma, residential homes have been targeted on the town's outskirts in the direction of Fallujah along the road between them. Within the town, Iraqi warplanes have launched air strikes that have left at least 4 wounded residents. Security forces are saying that they are taking control of Fallujah and securing the road links and the highway toward Baghdad that it uses in bringing in reinforcements.

In Ramadi, intermittent clashes have been underway since last night and have continued into this afternoon in the western sector of the city. Residential districts within Ramadi are relatively quiet, and a few families have been returning to their homes, but some roads and thoroughfares are still not secure. Gunmen are maintaining their presence in the city's southern sector.

The main western towns and the vast surrounding areas are still being held by the gunmen. There are no security forces present and the gunmen are administering the areas. Some low-level commercial activity has been taking place at the crossing points on the borders.

Clashes are continuing on the outskirts of Haditha as the armed groups are attempting to move into the town but the army, security, and tribal forces have prevented them from entering the town. Meanwhile Hit, Al-Baghdadi, and Kubaisa are still under the control of security forces and the local government. Amid the security presence there has been some activity by the towns' residents.

13 June 2014

After several days of intermittent fighting in a number of Ramadi's districts, the city awoke today to find a limited curfew in place on a number of dispersed districts. Also today, some families have left their homes in a number of districts after clashes resulted in the wounding of at least 5 residents.

On Thursday, gunmen seized full control of Al-Kubaisa township, west of Ramadi, after a confrontation between army forces and the gunmen; the fighting resulted in the withdrawal of the army forces from their posts, leaving Al-Kubaisa in the hands of the gunmen.

Gunmen also tried to take over the nearby Al-Baghdadi township.

The border region with Syria at Al-Qaim has been abandoned by the army and the border forces. Gunmen launched an attack on the border customs positions, killing 4 army personnel; all army, customs, and border units then completely withdrew. Tribal forces have now formed units charged with protecting the border.

Meanwhile, clashes have intensified in Fallujah since yesterday. Two people, one of them a woman, were killed and 3 were wounded by the ongoing shelling of both Fallujah and Al-Garma. 

31 May 2014

The Anbar crisis is today entering its sixth month.

Yesterday, suicide bombers detonated their vests at the Al-Bu'abaid police command HQ on Al-Khalidiya Island; gunmen were attempting to seize the post amid the eruption of heavy clashes resulting in the capture and arrest of 4 of the attacking gunmen, while 2 others were killed. The army sent in reinforcements to the area.

Fierce clashes also erupted in Al-Kubaisa, a township southwest of Hit in western Anbar, when gunmen launched an attack aimed at capturing the town. The local police, supported by army personnel, responded quickly; the gunmen then withdrew to an unknown destination after a gunfight that lasted about 30 minutes.

In Fallujah, local police supported by tribal forces and army units tried to enter Al-Saqlawiya, southwest of the city, where they clashed with groups of gunmen; the security forces are affirming that they are now in control of the area.

In Fallujah itself, the Al-Maftoul crossing - the only access point into or out of the city - was closed today. Meanwhile, indiscriminate shelling continued through last night and into noontime today. At least 3 persons were killed and 7 were wounded by the shelling. Local and international relief organizations are providing aid while trying to evacuate the remaining civilians from the city, in response to reports of an imminent military thrust into the city within the next few days.

The Anbar Governorate Council has stressed that there will not be an assault on Fallujah, and arrangements are still being made for convening the conference on the Anbar situation in Baghdad.

30 April 2014

It is now 5:00 p.m. local time in Ramadi and balloting is still underway. Voting has been moderate according to political observers in Anbar. There have been numerous irregularities as well as security violations.

Two houses were blown up today: one was the home of Khalid Al-Alwani, a member of the Iraqi parliament; the second was the home of Hameed Hashem, a member of the Anbar Governorate Council in Fallujah.

Elsewhere, mortar rounds have struck a number of polling centers in Anbar, the most significant being the polling station in central Ramadi. Two explosive devices were detonated in Al-Kubaisa township in western Anbar, and a number of mortar rounds were targeted at a number of polling stations in Hit, also in western Anbar.

Voter participation has been moderate throughout Anbar. Among the many irregularities was the absence of polling centers in areas that had been designated as additional polling venues to replace the ones within the cities.

Voter turnout in Hit was very low (about 5%). The turnout in the rural areas around Ramadi was relatively high, with the exception of the city's southern and southwestern sectors where the turnout was low. The highest turnouts in Anbar were reported in Ana and Al-Qa'im townships. Objections are still being raised by representatives of the competing blocs, most prominent of which were those involving the intervention by the army that blatantly called on voters to cast their ballot in favor of particular entities.

Voting is still underway, but there is some voter disapproval of the curfews that have prevented them from getting to the polling centers that are within the cities while they are now living outside them, requiring voters to travel long distances that they cannot cover on foot. The army has not undertaken to transport them and there are still a number of western regions whose residents are facing difficulties in reaching their designated polling centers, especially those in Ramadi.

Among other problems, a technical breakdown of the electronic polling equipment, and the late arrival of some centers' personnel, in addition to the absence of female supervisors which delayed women from casting their ballots, especially in the governorate's western regions.

There has been no balloting in Al-Garma, Fallujah, and Al-Saqlawiya in eastern Anbar, because of the ongoing security operations.

Military operations are still ongoing in many of the districts of these population centers.