- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Islamic State Captures Iraq's Ramadi

© REUTERS / StringerA car is engulfed by flames during clashes in the city of Ramadi, May 16, 2015
A car is engulfed by flames during clashes in the city of Ramadi, May 16, 2015 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The Islamic State jihadist group has captured the central Iraqi city of Ramadi in its entirety amid disputed claims from US and local officials, according to Monday's media reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A day earlier in neighboring Syria, US special forces killed a senior ISIL official and captured his wife in a clandestine ground operation. Abu Sayyaf was purported to have been in charge of the group's illicit oil trade, which is believed to be the extremist group's main source of revenue.

Security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists during sand storm in the eastern part of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 14, 2015 - Sputnik International
Iraqi Troops Abandon Positions in Ramadi as ISIL Militants Advance

"The city has fallen," Muhannad Haimour, Anbar province governor's spokesman, was quoted by the New York Times.

He added that over 500 civilians and security personnel died in the fight for the provincial capital some 60 miles west of Baghdad.

Abu Musal al-Britani, an alleged Isis suicide bomber, in a picture circulating by Isis social media accounts - Sputnik International
British ISIL Suicide Bomber Blows Himself Up in Iraq’s Ramadi
ISIL claimed late Sunday that it seized Ramadi from Iraq's security forces, but the US Defense Department that monitors ongoing events was unable to immediately confirm the militant group's reports.

"The situation remains fluid and contested," the outlet cited Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steven Warren, as saying.

Other reports quoting local officials stated that Iraqi troops were abandoning their positions en masse despite Prime Minister Haider Abadi's appeals for them to await reinforcement from Shia militias.

Ramadi has been the hotspot of clashes between the militants who seek to establish an Islamic caliphate in territories under its control and the Iraqi forces.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала