The Iraqi army has launched a new effort to retake the strategic city of Ramadi, capital of the western province of Anbar, from the Islamic State. Iraqi government sources said on Tuesday that army volunteer fighters are in the early stages of the operation, attempting retake the Tamim neighborhood, about half a mile from the center of Ramadi.
Sitting along the Euphrates river, Ramadi, which back in 2014 had a population of about 450,000, mostly Sunni Arabs, is located some 68 miles west of Baghdad and 31 miles west of Fallujah, at the heart of the Sunni Triangle. The city holds a highly strategic position on the Euphrates and the road going west into Syria and Jordan. It was heavily damaged during the Iraq War, when it was a major focus for the Suni insurgency against US forces. After the US withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, the city was a battlefield between the Iraqi government and the Islamic State, until the latter finally captured it in May 2015.
On Monday, the US-led coalition launched air strikes around Ramadi, ahead of the planned Iraqi ground offensive intended to take back the city. Coalition jets conducted five strikes around Ramadi, targeting ISIS strategic assets, Reuters reported. According to the Combined Joint Task Force, the airstrikes destroyed a number of fighting positions, command areas, one weapons cache and two buildings, as well as an enemy tactical unit. The coalition also conducted seven airstrikes around the city on Saturday and five on Sunday, while the Iraqi military was dropping leaflets telling residents about the impending assault, advising them to consider leaving the city in a hurry. However, there is a $6,000 tax ISIS collects from any local wishing to flee, making an escape from the war difficult for most.