The Islamic State group killed at least 500 people — both civilians and Iraqi soldiers — and forced 8,000 to flee their homes as it captured the city of Ramadi, a provincial official said yesterday, while Shiite militias vowed to mount a counteroffensive and reclaim the al-Anbar Governorate capital.
The statements followed a shocking defeat as the Islamic State on Sunday seized control of Ramadi, sending Iraqi forces fleeing in a major loss despite the support of US-led airstrikes targeting the extremists.
Bodies, some burned, littered the streets as local officials reported the militants carried out mass killings of Iraqi security forces and civilians. Online video showed Humvees, trucks and other equipment speeding out of Ramadi, with soldiers gripping onto their sides.
“We do not have an accurate count yet,” al-Anbar spokesman Muhannad Haimour said. “We estimate that 500 people have been killed, both civilians and military, and approximately 8,000 have fled the city.”
The estimates are for the past few days, since Friday last week, when the battle for the city reached its final stages. The 8,000 figure is in addition to the enormous exodus last month, Haimour said, when the UN said as many as 114,000 residents fled from Ramadi and surrounding villages at the height of the violence.
Local officials said that the Islamic State carried out mass killings of Iraqi security forces and civilians.
With defeat looming, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered security forces not to abandon their posts across al-Anbar, apparently fearing the extremists could capture the entire desert region that saw intense fighting after the 2003 US-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.
Al-Abadi also ordered Shiite militias to prepare to go into the Sunni-dominated province, ignoring US concerns their presence could spark sectarian bloodshed. By late Sunday, a large number of Shiite militiamen had arrived at a military base near Ramadi, apparently to participate in a possible counteroffensive, al-Anbar provincial council head Sabah Karhout said.
Youssef al-Kilabi, a spokesman for the Shiite militias fighting alongside al-Abadi’s forces, yesterday told reporters that the paramilitary forces have drawn up plans for a Ramadi offensive in cooperation with the government security forces and vowed to dislodge the extremists from Ramadi.
We will “eliminate this barbaric enemy,” al-Kilabi said. “God willing, we will achieve this triumph and we will not accept anything less than that.”
He did not elaborate on the plans or the timing of a counteroffensive.
Since the Islamic State blitzed through northern and western Iraq in June last year, thousands of Shiite militiamen have answered the call from the country’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to take up the fight against the militants.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he remained confident about the fight against the Islamic State group, despite setbacks like the loss of Ramadi.
Kerry, in South Korea as part of an Asia trip, said that he has long said the fight against the militant group would be a long one, and that it would be tough in the al-Anbar Province of western Iraq where Iraqi security forces are not built up.
Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have made gains against the Islamic State elsewhere in Iraq, including capturing the northern city of Tikrit, with the help of US airstrikes.
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