Posted on 12/28/2015 8:18:40 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Iraqi forces swept the devastated streets of Ramadi for bombs Monday, after recapturing the city they lost in May and clinching a major victory against the Islamic State group.
Pockets of jihadists may remain in parts of the city, but the army said it had faced no resistance since fighters from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh, abandoned the flashpoint government complex on Sunday.
Iraqis celebrated in the streets of several cities late Sunday, and officials congratulated the federal forces on their biggest victory since ISIS overran large parts of the country last year.
"The security forces now control all the streets. There is no resistance from Daesh," said Ibrahim al-Fahdawi, a security official from Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital.
The former government headquarters in Ramadi was the epicenter of the fighting, but Iraqi forces did not rush in when ISIS pulled out because the entire area was rigged.
Explosives and ordnance disposal teams face the mammoth task of clearing a city in which ISIS laid thousands of bombs.
"Daesh has planted more than 300 explosive devices on the roads and in the buildings of the government complex," Brig. Gen. Majid al-Fatlawi of the army's 8th division said.
"They used everything from oxygen bottles to jerrycans, that contain C-4 (plastic explosive) and chlorine," he said.
Several local officials said ISIS used civilians as human
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Another ‘achievement’ for Obama to crow about at his upcoming SOU.
Wonder if Obama will give it back.
10,000 troops took months to take out 300 ISIS fighters...
Why am I NOT optimistic?
I know the Iraqi army needs wins, but the only thing they didn't do here is lose.
And they still have some of the jihadis running loose in the city.
How will they ever take Mosul which has 25,000 jihadis?
RE: Another ‘achievement’ for Obama to crow about at his upcoming SOU.
This battle was TOTALLY UN-NECESSARY. Obama LOST it and had to fight another battle to take it back.
I was gonna say, he can declare victory regularly. We have it, he makes us fight with our hands behind our back, we lose it, we take it back after media spotlight gets on him.
But he will try to take credit for its recapture. Guaranteed.
Obama trades in deception and lies.
Four letters missing from that article: IRAN!
A rule of thumb:
To overcome an enemy position, you need a minimum of the next larger formation.
So the battalion (~300), will need a regiment (1000+) or greater, to displace.
This being an unconventional urban battle, plus not taking excessive chances...
squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division...
It seems the places in that part of the world are easier to capture than to hold.
Nothing is good news.
Yeh, just wait till they turn and run from firecrackers going off.
Should have never, ever been left standing in the first place.
Should have been nothing but a pile of rubble from Bush II, plain and simple
Just like fighting the Iraqis when clearing Ramadi under Bush. Imagine that.
Some things never change no matter how much "nation building" you do.
Obama will take credit, although it only happened after Russia started actually killing ISIS terrorists from the air instead of flying over and then doing nothing like our Air Force has to do under the Terrorist-Sympathizer-in-Chief’s ROE.
You summed up the question nicely.
No big deal; the area around Ramadi is still in ISIS hands!
We will worry about Mosul later. In the meantime, Ramadi is a huge victory, this is the heart of the Sunni Triangle.
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