31 December 2014

In Haditha, where ISIL gunmen have for days been trying to capture the Haditha Dam, the Alous area was once again completely liberated today.

In Baghdadi, the humanitarian situation is critical with the continuing ISIL blockade that has not allowed any food or fuel supplies from reaching the town resulting in a huge rise in the prices of practically everything.

In Ramadi, parts of the Shjariya area of northeastern Ramadi are still being held by the gunmen. Very fierce clashes have been going on there since yesterday evening.

Ramadi city is still relatively calm, especially since the security forces deployed concrete barriers around the ISIL-controlled parts of the city.

In Fallujah, fierce battles have been ongoing in Garma, northeast of the city. Security sources are reporting that at least 55 gunmen have been killed in the fighting which is still in progress at this time. In Fallujah city, bombardment exchanges are continuing; 3 residents have been killed and 7 have been wounded in the residential districts.

Staff General Nawwal Al-Zoba'ee has today been appointed commander of the 5th Division, replacing Staff General Qassem Al-Dulaimi who has been transferred to Anbar Operations.

30 December 2014

In Haditha, ISIL has launched its fifth consecutive attempt to penetrate into the town, but once again the fierce resistance by security forces has turned back the gunmen. In a phone contact the township's municipal leader has confirmed that security forces and tribal forces have thwarted the three-pronged attack: firstly, from the south across the river; the second, from the western areas of Haqlaniya and Birwana; in the third, clashes took place close to the Haditha Dam which ISIL gunmen have been trying to capture for five days, but coalition warplanes intervened, killing 33 of the gunmen, according to Anbar Operations sources.

The gunmen were able to seize partial control of the village of Alous, about 30 km from Haditha.

In Baghdadi, ISIL forces have cut all the bridges linking the eastern and western sectors of the town, after having seized 14 villages on the town's outskirts. Security sources have reported that coalition airstrikes have struck ISIL targets in the area.

In Fallujah, a medical source has confirmed that, between yesterday and this afternoon, 9 residents have been killed and 18 others wounded by random mortar fire during the continuing bombardment exchanges between the gunmen inside the city and security forces surrounding it. The mortar fire struck many of the city's residential districts, leaving women and children among the casualties. As 2014 draws to a close, there have been more than 5,000 casualties, killed or injured by the continuous bombardments in Fallujah.

In Ramadi, the city's residential districts have been relatively calm. In the rural areas around the city, security forces say that they have re-taken control of about 80% of those areas.

25 December 2014

A security source at the Anbar Operations Command announced today that coalition warplanes have carried out a number of sorties and have attacked ISIL positions along the Iraqi-Syrian border. The source reported that at least 35 ISIL gunmen were killed. Military operations are now underway at the Iraqi-Jordanian border crossings, to prevent the gunmen from infiltrating into Iraq via Syrian territory.

In Baghdadi, security forces today launched a major operation aimed at liberating the rural areas across the river from the town. The forces are reported to have advanced and have killed at least 7 gunmen in the area.

In Hit and its surrounding areas, ISIL gunmen attempted today to seize control of the rural areas across the river from Hit (Kubaisa, Al-Dulab, and other riverside areas). Security forces supported by tribal fighters have been able to repel the attack.

In Ramadi, broad military operations have been underway today, with security sources saying that they have liberated large areas of the city, but they are being hampered by rooftop snipers.

In Fallujah, 7 gunmen were killed in a security forces attack at a bridge linking the city to the main Baghdad-Fallujah highway.

24 December 2014

The Defense Minister, Dr. Khalid Al-Ubaidi, arrived in Anbar last night, making his way to the Ayn Al-Asad Military Base in Baghdadi. He has been supervising the ongoing military operations there since the early hours of this morning. He met with a number of tribal leaders in Baghdadi.

A military operation today, supported by Iraqi aircraft, liberated the Sin Al-Dheeb on the outskirts of the town. Seven ISIL gunmen were killed, according to a military source. Another operation targeted the Jubba village, southwest of Baghdadi, that is still being held by the gunmen. The Anbar local government has announced that these operations are being supervised by U.S. military advisers based at Ayn Al-Asad. Three Apache helicopters have also been deployed against ISIL targets in the area.

In Ramadi, a broad security operation by the Anbar Police Command, supported by army units and tribal fighters has been launched to liberate the only eastern/northeastern areas of Ramadi still controlled by ISIL. 23 gunmen have been reported killed in the fighting.

In Fallujah, intermittent but violent clashes have erupted when ISIL gunmen attempted to attack the area across the main highway. The city's general hospital has reported that 3 residents have been killed, including one child, and seven wounded by the continuing bombardment exchanges.

The new Anbar Governor, Suhaib Al-Rawi, told his fellow citizens in a press statement that the next few days will see the local security and tribal forces supplied with new weapons and munitions, and that new plans have been drawn up for the liberation of Anbar's territory through the cooperation of the central and local governments. Anbar Council sources are reporting that a 50,000-man force will be ready in a few days to combat the ISIL gunmen. Most of the force is composed of local tribal fighters.

23 December 2014

On the political front, the Anbar Council today elected Suhaib Al-Rawi to be the new Anbar Governor, following an urgent meeting in Baghdad. He received 18 of the 30 votes representing the Anbar Council members. He vowed to be at the forefront of Anbar's defendants. He said that the central government in Baghdad will be approached during the coming week to establish a military force to combat ISIL.

In Baghdadi, ISIL has launched a fourth attack in about ten days on several fronts. The attack involved the use of mobile artillery driven by ISIL gunmen and included many heavy military vehicles. However, the attack was confronted by security forces, coalition warplanes, and tribal fighters. Sources have reported that 33 ISIL gunmen were killed in southwestern Baghdadi.

In Ramadi, the last region in northeastern Ramadi still under the gunmen's control has now been completely secured, with the involvement of army forces.

In Fallujah, 13 residents were killed, including women and children, and 7 were wounded in the continuing bombardment exchanges between yesterday and through today.

Meanwhile, ISIL is still preventing food and fuel supplies from reaching the areas it is blockading.

The Anbar Operations Command announced today that at least 130 new U.S. military advisers have arrived in Anbar at the Ayn Al-Asad military camp in Baghdadi in order to prepare new plans for retaking control of the province.

22 December 2014

ISIL tried once again today to seize Baghdadi, including the Ayn Al-Asad Base. The attack was launched from the west, but coalition warplanes, security forces, and tribal fighters were able to repel the attack, killing at least 13 of the ISIL gunmen.

In a simultaneous attack from the north and northeast, clashes are ongoing, including mortar attacks on some of the town's residential districts. Four civilians have been wounded and there has been significant structural damage.

In Haditha, there was also an ISIL attempt to penetrate into the town. A suicide bomber was killed as he tried to drive his booby-trapped vehicle into the town from the southwest.

In Hit, ISIL gunmen are still in control of the town. Security forces on the town's perimeter tried to assault the town from the south; there were clashes in the area, and coalition warplanes struck some of the gunmen's positions in the area. Security sources say that at least 33 gunmen were killed.

In Ramadi, the city has been relatively calm today, except for the ongoing clashes in its southern sector. There were also fierce battles in the rural areas to the north, as gunmen tried to once again re-take areas that have recently been liberated by security forces. In western Ramadi, it was announced today that the ISIL commander there, Abu Abdullah Al-Saddawi, has been killed.

In Fallujah, 4 residents were killed and 11 were wounded yesterday by the ongoing bombardment exchanges between security forces surrounding the city and the ISIL gunmen within it.

20 December 2014

ISIL gunmen today attempted to assault the Baghdadi township west of Hit, where the Ayn Al-Asad military base is located. The gunmen did enter the areas around Baghdadi and into its southern sector where they seized a number of buildings and several vital positions. Coalition warplanes struck the bridge between Baghdadi and an outlying village in order to prevent the gunmen from crossing into Baghdadi. An officer of the 7th Division was killed in the heavy fighting. A source at the Anbar Command announced that French warplanes had taken part in attacking the gunmen's positions around Baghdadi and toward Hit. In other clashes, security forces killed 12 ISIL gunmen.

The gunmen also tried to seize the Malahma village in Al-Khalidiya, northeast of Ramadi. The gunmen did manage to advance a few kilometers into the area, and clashes and bombardment are  continuing.

In Falluja, the bombardment exchanges have killed one civilian and wounded 4 others in the city's residential districts.