06 January 2014

FALLUJAH, Iraq: Iraq was gearing up Sunday for a major attack to retake Al-Qaeda-held Fallujah, a senior official said Sunday, in an attempt to dislodge Al-Qaeda militants in Sunni-dominated Anbar province.

The army unleashed airstrikes and besieged the regional capital Ramadi in fighting that killed at least 34 people Sunday, officials said. Meanwhile, a series of bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad killed at least 20 people.

Washington said it would help Baghdad in its fight against Al-Qaeda-linked militants but that U.S. troops would not return, and Iran Sunday also offered assistance.

The takeover of Fallujah and parts of the provincial capital Ramadi, farther west, by the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), is the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the bloody insurgency that followed the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. ISIS is the latest incarnation of Al-Qaedas Iraq affiliate and has made a striking comeback this year, taking advantage of widespread Sunni discontent and the civil war in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that Washington would provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their battle against the militants but that it was their fight.

He said Washington was very, very concerned about the resurgence of ISIS but was not contemplating any return of U.S. ground troops, after their withdrawal in December 2011.

We are not obviously contemplating returning, but we are going to do everything that is possible to help them, he told reporters in Jerusalem.

Iran also offered assistance, with deputy chief of staff General Mohammad Hejazi saying that if the Iraqis ask, we will supply them with equipment and advice, but they have no need of manpower.

ISIS seized control of the village of Bubali near Ramadi after heavy fighting Sunday, a witness said.

Journalists reported sporadic clashes both inside Ramadi and on Fallujahs outskirts.

Iraqi ground forces commander Staff General Ali Ghaidan Majeed told AFP security forces killed 11 militants on the highway from Baghdad to Fallujah.

Majeed admitted that we do not know what is happening in Fallujah, but said the city should wait for what is coming a reference to the impending assault. Iraqi forces are preparing for a major attack in Fallujah, a senior official said.

The regular army has paused on the edge of Fallujah to allow residents time to leave, after which it will launch the attack to crush the terrorists.

The army and allied tribesmen fought Al-Qaeda militants around Ramadi Sunday, two Anbar government officials said, adding 22 soldiers and 12 civilians were killed, along with an unknown number of militants.

Tribes inside the city of Fallujah have started to form brigades, they said, and some of the factions who fought the Americans following the U.S.-led invasion a decade ago say they do not want the Iraqi army to enter the city.

As a local government we are doing our best to avoid sending the army to Fallujah. ... Now we are negotiating outside the city with the tribes to decide how to enter the city without allowing the army to be involved, said Falih Eisa, a member of Anbars provincial council.

Iraqs Defense Ministry released video of the airstrikes in Anbar apparently taken by aircraft at night showing Al-Qaeda hideouts bombarded. It showed men gathered near a vehicle and running as the site was struck.

A ministry statement said the air force struck a militants housing overnight, identifying them as belonging to ISIS.

The deadliest attack Sunday in Baghdad took place in the northern Shiite Shaab neighborhood, where two car bombs exploded simultaneously near a restaurant and a cafe. Officials say the blasts killed 10 people and wounded 26.

Authorities said a car bomb ripped through the capitals eastern Shiite district of Sadr City, killing five and wounding 10. Another bombing killed three civilians and wounded six in a commercial area in the central Bab al-Muadham neighborhood, officials said. Two other bombings killed two civilians and wounded 13, police said.

Lt. Gen. Rasheed Fleih, who leads the Anbar Military Command, told state TV Sunday that two to three days were needed to push the militants out of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi. Fleih added that pro-government Sunni tribes were leading the operations while the army was only offering aerial cover and logistics on the ground.

Copyright The Daily Star 2014.