Iraq premier orders aid to Anbar amid Islamic State offensive
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi ordered the military to arm citizens fighting Islamic State in a province northwest of Baghdad, where tribal leaders and politicians complain of inadequate government support. Abadi ordered to provide air support for fighters in Anbar and instructed the military to boost its presence in the province, his office announced yesterday. […]Zaid Sabah reports for Bloomberg:
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi ordered the military to arm citizens fighting Islamic State in a province northwest of Baghdad, where tribal leaders and politicians complain of inadequate government support. Abadi ordered to provide air support for fighters in Anbar and instructed the military to boost its presence in the province, his office announced yesterday.
Islamic State fighters have mounted a fresh offensive to capture the city of Ramadi, Anbar’s capital, according to local officials. The fall of the province would leave most of Iraq’s main Sunni Arab cities in the hands of the al-Qaeda breakaway group, which declared a so-called Muslim caliphate in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq. The Sunni militants are trying to capture Anbar’s provincial council building in Ramadi, according to Faleh al-Issawi, deputy head of the council. “Unfortunately the central government support so far is very weak,” he said by phone from inside the building yesterday.
