The battle for Iraq’s Anbar Province continues to rage, despite bombing campaigns from the US and their coalition allies.
Notwithstanding a big offensive to try and win back territory lost to the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) last summer, local Iraqi government soldiers say the militant group is still a potent force.
"Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both been rumored to be helping to arm the ISIS - claims which have been repeatedly denied by Riyadh and Doha.There also have been unconfirmed reports of US weapons and aid dropped from planes falling into ISIS hands."
Ramadi is one of key battle grounds in the fight for Anbar – the city of Ramadi is the largest settlement in the region and around 110 kilometers west of Iraq’s capital Baghdad.
According to the report, ISIS are looking to consolidate their positions in the city and are attacking it with more intensity since Iraqi government forces launched a campaign to capture Tikrit, the birthplace of the country’s former dictator Saddam . Sniper fire and gun fire is constant, as the Iraqi security forces try to make inroads against the terrorist organization.
However, things are not going as easily as planned. The pro-government fighters are up against a well-armed foe, who resorts to suicide bombers and car bombs packed with explosives. Even though the conflict has been raging for more than nine months, the Iraqi army confirms the terrorist group isn’t running short of soldiers.
On the contrary, they have access to a vast array of modern weapons and explosives, which are reaching them with continuing frequency.
This begs the question of who is supplying the ISIS with arms. The terrorist group managed to capture a significant amount of weapons as it swept through Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both been rumored to be helping to arm the ISIS - claims which have been repeatedly denied by Riyadh and Doha.
There also have been unconfirmed reports of US weapons and aid dropped from planes falling into ISIS hands. An undated video released by the unofficial ISIS mouthpiece in October showed a terrorists displaying several boxes of munitions with English-language markings.
During the past week, the ISIS has hit Ramadi with 150 mortar shells and attacked security forces with 23 car bombings, Faleh al-Issawi, the deputy chief of the Anbar provincial council told Bloomberg.
He added that the militants have come up with a new tactic of digging kilometer-long tunnels and planting bombs under strategically important buildings, such as the Iraqi army headquarters.
The Iraqi security forces are doing their best to stem the tide of the ISIS onslaught and admit that more military support is needed to take back Anbar. When this will come is anyone’s guess, though there are rumors amongst the soldiers who spoke to RT Arabic that more resistance fighters will be sent there as soon as Tikrit is recaptured.