Baghdad: Iraq’s military command has told civilians in the Daesh-held Ramadi to leave the city, a sign that an operation may soon be underway to retake the provincial capital.
Monday’s statement, broadcast on Iraqi state TV, says the Ramadi families are requested to leave the city from its southern, Himaira area. No further instructions or details were given.
It’s unclear if the long-awaited operation to recapture Ramadi is imminent.
The US-led alliance carried out seven air strikes near Ramadi on Saturday, targeting Daesh fighters, key positions and weapons caches.
Daesh captured Ramadi in May, after government forces abandoned their posts. The provincial capital of Al Anbar province is located about 115 kilometres west of Baghdad.
The extremist group controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said on Monday that Iraq has sufficient forces to fight Daesh, after American senators called for more US troops to deployed to the country.
“The Iraqi government welcomes an increase in support in weapons and training and [air] support from international partners in our war against Daesh,” Al Abadi said in a statement.
But “we confirm that Iraq has enough men and resolve to defeat Daesh and other similar criminal groups,” he said.
Al Abadi’s remarks came a day after American senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham advocated an increase in US forces in Iraq to around 10,000 from the current cap of 3,550.
“The prime minister ... said he wanted more American presence here,” McCain, the chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, told journalists in Baghdad.
And Graham, a member of the same committee, said: “I talked with the prime minister — would you like more American help? The answer was yes.
“If you went up to 10,000, you’re not gonna get any pushback from the Iraqis,” said Graham.
“The difference between 3,500 and 10,000 is meaningless politically inside the country,” he said.
The presence of American soldiers in Iraq, where the US fought a nearly nine-year war, remains a very sensitive issue, especially for politicians with close ties to Iran, who have a strong presence in parliament and the government.
Daesh overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last year, aided by the collapse of significant units of the Iraqi army, and also holds territory in Syria.
Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained significant ground from the jihadists north of Baghdad, but large parts of the country’s west remain under Daesh control.
