The meeting in Paris of top officials from Iraq and international allies – including the US and France, but not Russia, Iran or Syria – comes weeks after the IS group conquered both the Iraqi city of Ramadi and the historic Syrian city of Palmyra.
More than 4,100 airstrikes by the US-led coalition have failed to stem the territorial gains by IS fighters.
Abadi said that the flow of foreign fighters across the border into Iraq hasn’t slowed, and the radical Sunni group now is now made up of a majority of foreign jihadists.
Less than a year ago, he said, it was 60 percent Iraqi.
“They have brought hundreds of new fighters, foreign fighters, well trained, well-armed,” Abadi told a small group of journalists before the meeting. “This is a transnational organisation. We need all the support of the world, the intelligence of the world, and we are not getting it.”
No major change in strategy is expected to be announced, with both US and other officials insisting the alternatives are limited and that Iraqi forces must themselves step up.
Abadi said he is investigating why commanders in Ramadi ordered troops to pull back without fighting the IS extremists.
Iraqi forces outnumbered the jihadists but they fled the city without fighting.
Their withdrawal left behind large numbers of US-supplied vehicles, including several tanks. Over the past year, Iraqi security forces in retreat have left behind significant amounts of US-supplied military equipment. The US has tried to destroy the weaponry in subsequent airstrikes against Islamic State forces.
“The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight,” was the blunt assessment from US Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Sunday.
Abadi disagreed, saying Iraqi soldiers seemed unaware of what they were up against – suggesting that a lack of intelligence from the coalition played a role in losing the city.
“Iraqi forces are prepared to fight,” he said. “If you don’t have enough intelligence, if you don’t have enough from airplanes seeing what’s happening in advance, how can you react?”
Abadi’s Shiite-dominated government is under pressure to increase the presence of minority Sunnis in leadership positions. So far a measure to raise the Sunni profile in the security forces has stalled in the legislature.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
france24.com
2/6/15
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Daesh shut down Ramadi Dam on Tuesday and cut water flow to areas controlled by the Iraqi security forces east of the city in Anbar province, a senior military official said...
ReplyDeleteBrigadier General Aziz Khalaf al-Tarmouz, an Anbar security advisor, told Anadolu Agency that Daesh seized control of Ramadi Dam, on the Euphrates River north of the city.
“Daesh cut water flow to al-Khalediya district and al-Habbaniya area, which are under the control of security forces and tribal fighters,” al-Tarmouz said.
The security advisor said the incident may cause a wave of civilian displacement from the area.
On May 17, Daesh took control of Ramadi after overrunning government forces.
aa.com.tr
2/6/15
Iraq allies vow support for plan to regain ground from jihadis...
ReplyDeleteIraq's allies Tuesday pledged support for Baghdad's plan to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS jihadis, whose advance Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described as a "failure" for the global community.
The U.S.-led coalition, which has been carrying out airstrikes against ISIS, also called for the "speedy launch" of efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, saying this was crucial to tackle the group rampaging through Syria and Iraq.
But despite a series of battlefield wins by ISIS, the coalition maintained it had a "winning strategy" and gave its seal of approval to Iraqi plans to claw back territory at crunch strategy talks in Paris......AFP