U.S. artillery bombards sneaking Islamic State militants in Ramadi
U.S. soldiers stand near military vehicles at an army base in Karamless town, east of Mosul, Iraq, December 25, 2016. Picture taken December 25, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Ramadi (IraqiNews.com) U.S. artillery forces bombarded a group of Islamic State militants who sneaked to an area south of the city of Ramadi in Anbar, a military source was quoted saying on Friday.
Baghdad Today quoted a source at the Habbaniya base, located between Ramadi and Fallujah, intensely bombarded al-Tash Islands, south of Ramadi, after a group of Islamic State members sneaked into the region.
Reconnaissance drones had detected preparations by the militants to target the military base with guided missiles, according to the source.
Islamic State has held the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, since 2014. Recent news reports have said military reinforcements were sent to areas near those towns preparing for an invasion against IS. and that Iraqi military aeroplanes dropped millions of messages on western Anbar telling civilians that liberation offensives were nearing, and urging people to stay away from militants’ locations.
. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command has, meanwhile, declared that its coming battle would be in IS-held Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. So far, United States.-backed government forces have recaptured Mosul, Islamic State’s former capital, and the town of Tal Afar, a major haven west of Mosul.