MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Up to 60,000 Shiite militiamen are deployed in the Iraqi capital to protect the city from ISIL, as the extremists are stepping up their offensive, the Erbil-based Rudaw reports.
"Experts believe sending Shiite fighters into Ramadi puts Baghdad at major risk, but it is not true because up to 60,000 fighters of Hashd al-Shaabi [Shiite Popular Mobilization Units] are inside Baghdad now," the online newspaper quotes the Security Committee of Baghdad Provincial Council as saying in a Tuesday statement.
"Only five percent of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces have been sent to Ramadi, the other 95 percent is still in Baghdad to protect the city's security and stability," Rudaw quoted the security committee as saying in its statement.
Ramadi is located about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad, which the ISIL threatens to be the next target of its offensive.
Over the weekend, Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions in Ramadi, giving up the city to ISIL militants.
The fall of Ramadi was confirmed on Monday by Iraqi Anbar province governor spokesman Muhannad Haimour. Later in the day, US State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke said that Baghdad was not under threat from ISIL militants, who have captured vast areas across Iraq and Syria.
The terrorist group's positions in both countries have been targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes since September, 2014.
