Sabah al-Numan, the head of Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces, hailed the situation in Anbar province after the recent progress, saying the capital city of Ramadi is under full siege.
Alsumaria News has quoted him as saying that after Iraqi forces laid the siege on Ramadi and cut ISIL supply lines, the terrorist group has resorted to car bombs and suicide attacks to impede the army’s progress.
Numan added that Russian jet fighters have played a great role in cutting the supply lines of Daesh (ISIL) from Raqqa to Mosul and then to Anbar province.
Retaking the city of Ramadi would be a major psychological boost for Iraqi security forces.
The ultimate goal for Iraqi forces is to break ISIL’s grip over the northern city of Mosul. Kurdish forces recently recaptured the city of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, cutting an important supply line between Mosul and the city of Raqqa in Syria.
Since June 2014, Iraq has witnessed a fresh wave of violence after militants from the ISIL terrorist group took control of large swathes of the war-stricken country.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.