Islamic State can sneak into Anbar’s Hit given insufficient troops
Islamic State militants. File photo.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) A local official in Anbar warned on Tuesday that the Islamic State militants could sneak easily into the city of Hit, northwest of Ramadi, noting that the number of police troops available was not enough to protect it.
In remarks to Alsumaria News,the president of the council of Hit, Mohammed al-Mohammadi, said that Hit, 70 km west of Ramadi, is surrounded by desert from the eastern, western and southern sides, noting that the IS elements can ‘sneak into the city easily’.
“The number of police personnel is 50 officers only, which is not enough to protect the city, compared to 1,000 officers before ISIS took control of the area,” he added.
Al-Mohammadi asked Anbar police chief, Hadi Zreig, to increase the number of police personnel in Hit in order to protect the city from any threat by the terror group.
Hit witness chronic security breaches such as suicide attacks against civilians and security forces.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi declared, victory in the city of Mosul, ending an eight-month campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, which has displaced more than 900.000 civilians.
The victory in Mosul also means an effective collapse of the Islamic State’s self-styled “caliphate” declared from Mosul’s Old City by the group’s supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The government, winning Mosul back, plans to aim at other IS havens across Iraq, including Anbar’s western areas close to the borders with Syria.