[World News] Militias in Iraq reportedly gearing up to try to retake Ramadi

[lioneatszebra]

Shiite militias in Iraq reportedly gearing up to try to retake Ramadi
From LA Times

Shiite Muslim militias were preparing Monday for a counteroffensive to retake a largely Sunni Muslim city in Iraq from Islamic State fighters despite concerns that the militias' presence could spark sectarian bloodshed.

By late Sunday, a large number of Shiite militiamen had arrived at a military base near Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, said the head of the provincial council, Sabah Karhout.

Youssef Kilabi, a spokesman for the Shiite militias, said Monday that the Iranian-backed paramilitary forces have drawn up plans for an assault in cooperation with government forces.

We will “eliminate this barbaric enemy,” Kilabi vowed. He did not elaborate on the plans or the timing of a counteroffensive.

Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran, have been key to victories against Islamic State on other fronts in recent months. But they have also been widely accused of extrajudicial killings of Sunnis, as well as of looting and torching of Sunni property. Militia leaders deny these allegations.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi, a Shiite, ordered the militias to prepare to go into Anbar despite those concerns.

The fall of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, was a stunning defeat for Iraq's security forces and military, which fled as the Islamic State extremists overwhelmed the last positions of pro-government forces despite the support of U.S.-led airstrikes. Online video showed Humvees, trucks and other equipment speeding out of Ramadi, with soldiers desperate to reach safety gripping onto their sides.

Sunday's defeat recalled the collapse of Iraqi forces last summer in the face of a blitz by the extremist group, which swept over much of the north and west of the country.

Backed by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition since August, Iraqi forces and allied militias have recaptured some of the areas. But the fresh defeat in Anbar calls into question the Obama administration's hopes of relying solely on air power to support the Iraqi troops as well as whether these forces have sufficiently recovered from last year's stunning defeats.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Anbar’s governor contended Monday that Islamic State militants had killed about 500 civilians and soldiers and forced 8,000 people to flee their homes as they captured Ramadi.

Since Friday, when the battle for the city entered its final stages, “we estimate that 500 people have been killed, both civilians and military,” said spokesman Muhannad Haimour.

The figures could not be independently confirmed, but Islamic State militants have in the past killed civilians and soldiers in the aftermath of their major victories.

Ramadi's streets were deserted Monday, with only a few people venturing out of their homes to look for food, according to two residents reached by telephone who requested anonymity for safety's sake.

Bodies, some charred, were strewn in the streets or tossed into the Euphrates River, said Naeem Gauoud, a leader from the Sunni tribes that fought against Islamic State in Ramadi.