Iraq eyes swift action in Ramadi

Iraq's army and allied paramilitary forces massed around Ramadi yesterday, looking for swift action to recapture the city from the Islamic State group before it builds up defences.

With his security strategy in tatters and his authority facing its biggest challenge since he took office eight months ago, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was looking for quick redemption.

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Reeling from the worst setback since ISIS grabbed swathes of territory in June last year, he called in the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilisation units (Hashed al-Shaabi).

"The Hashed have started to arrive in areas east of Ramadi," said army Brigadier General Ali al-Majidi, speaking to AFP from a base west of Baghdad.

He said the operation would begin with efforts to contain continued attacks by ISIS east of Ramadi before an offensive is launched to reconquer lost ground.

Abadi and Washington had hoped to rely on regular forces and locally recruited Sunni tribal fighters newly incorporated into the Hashed al-Shaabi to fight ISIS in Anbar.

Such a solution was seen as more palatable to the predominantly Sunni population of the province, and a way for Washington to keep Iranian-backed militias at bay.

The Shia paramilitary groups had been eager to join the Ramadi battle for some time and argued that Abadi's reluctance led to the provincial capital's fall.

Following a belated green light, they started sending convoys of fighters to Anbar, where anti-ISIS forces are massing, mostly east and west of Ramadi.

"The US government and Iraqi government seem to be on the same sheet of music that Ramadi has to be counterattacked before ISIS consolidates," Michael Knights of the Washington Institute said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he was "absolutely confident" that the situation could be reversed within days.

According to an official in the Anbar governor's office, at least 500 fighters and civilians were killed in the three-day blitz that led to the fall of Ramadi.

ISIS released pictures of the spoils they retrieved from abandoned government bases, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles, as well as weapons and ammunition.

The group also released pictures of the moment when its fighters freed prisoners held at a counterterrorism detention facility.

The jihadists, whose capture of Ramadi on Sunday showed they may have been written off too soon, tried to keep up the momentum by launching more attacks east of the city on Monday.