Although the media has
been speculating that the liberation of Ramadi is “imminent”, Daesh is putting up a fierce fight and preparing to unleash hell on Iraqi troops once they are inside the city. Though the city’s re-capture and return to normalcy is easier said than done, for the first time in months, it’s finally within reach.
A major, multi-faceted Iraqi, American and Russian offensive was launched on Tuesday against Daesh in Ramadi, 110km west of Baghdad. Many have already predicted a speedy fall “within hours” but according to Daesh affiliates in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the organisation “can hold out until next January”. The Iraqi Army is the public face of the current offensive, backed by the American air force and silently by the Russian one. Visibly absent from the ongoing campaign are the colourful assortment of Iran-backed Shiite militias, who last October were the major force in the recapture of Tikrit, Saddam Hussain’s hometown on the Tigris River, which was also occupied by Daesh. The same militias were used to “enforce” the takeover, taking the place of Iraqi troops who could not stay in the liberated city for too long and had to embark on new operations against Daesh. The overwhelming presence of Shiite militias further provoked the Sunni population of Tikrit and will likely do the same in Ramadi today, which lies at the heart of Sunni territory in the Anbar province. Because of that not a single Shiite militiaman is in sight since last Tuesday.
The Iraqi army is advancing on Ramadi from the north while armed Sunni tribesmen are pushing from the south, backed logistically and military by the Americans who are controlling the skies and bombing Daesh targets within the city. Hovering nearby is the Russian air force, prepared to strike at any Daesh re-enforcements that might come from Syria. Despite the high note of optimism, Ramadi might not be as easy as it seems. The city might fall militarily but it will be very difficult to hold on to it. First there is a shortage of manpower as Iraqi troops cannot stay fully in Ramadi and Prime Minister Haidar Al Abadi cannot ask Shiite militias to walk in, and nor can he rely fully on Sunni tribesmen. Secondly Daesh is putting up fierce resistance, blowing up bridges leading to the city and using civilians as human shields, which is making the offensive slower than what it should be. Third, Daesh has riddled Ramadi with mines and remote controlled IEDs, in addition to snipers and suicide bombers, transforming the city into a giant inferno for Iraqi troops once they are inside. Daesh lieutenants in Ramadi, many former officers in Saddam’s army, have made great use of an elaborate underground maze of tunnels and secret hideouts that were dug on Saddam’s orders before 2003, anticipating an Iranian invasion of Iraq. The tunnels and the network of safe houses and arms caches, which are all now at the disposal of Daesh, are being used to create an underground resistance —literally — against the advancing Iraqi troops.
Iraqi and American sources have put the number of Daesh fighters in Ramadi at around 300 currently but the real number maybe higher. If the city is liberated between now and next January, the offensive will be music to the ears of Al Abadi, who has come under fierce criticism for letting Ramadi fall and not properly arming its residents and Sunnis tribesmen. Ramadi fell just nine months after Al Abadi came to power in Baghdad, replacing the Iran-backed Nouri Al Maliki. Since then he has promised to liberate the major Sunni city. Officers in Damascus and Moscow are also closely watching the Ramadi Battle, seeing it as a blueprint for a similar military campaign in Syria to re-take the occupied cities of Raqqa and Palmyra. It will also serve as a “rehearsal” for a planned US campaign next summer to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul, which has been held by Daesh since 2014.
