ISIS Proves Resilient as U.S. Downplays Attacks in Iraq

Coordinated strikes near Irbil, outside Ramadi represent danger for future operations.

 

 

 

The Defense Department is trying to downplay a massive Islamic State group offensive that lasted from Thursday afternoon through Friday morning, involving hundreds of extremist fighters in a coordinated and sophisticated effort that broke through lines of U.S.-backed local forces in both the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq and around the key city of Ramadi.
"If this is all they've got, it's going to get worse and worse for this enemy," Army Col. Steven Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, told reporters via video conference from his headquarters in Baghdad.
But the attack represents a troubling sign for the coalition and its Iraqi partners, demonstrating as Warren said that the Islamic State group still has "fight left in it." Ahead of attempts to retake key cities like Ramadi and Mosul from the control of the extremist forces, these latest skirmishes demonstrate a lot more bloodshed is likely to come.
A battalion-sized element, or roughly 500 Islamic State group fighters, began the assault just after 4 p.m. Thursday and penetrated the Kurdish front lines. The terrorists employed car bombs, mortars and rockets, as well as suicide bombers and infantry troops in the coordinated attack.
Six fighters from the Kurdish peshmerga were killed and 13 were wounded. They were joined by 69 Canadian special operations commandos, according to local media, and which Warren confirmed, who had been at a headquarters in Irbil when the fighters came close enough that they had to engage.
No Americans were near that fight on the ground, Warren said. Fighters, bombers and drones from five members of the U.S.-led coalition supported local fighters on the ground, dropping roughly 100 precision munitions and helping them retake that territory.
Shortly after that attack began, a company-sized element of a couple hundred Islamic State group fighters advanced on the city of Ramadi from the north, employing infantry forces and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, or VBIEDS. The shock troops were able to seize the key Palestine Bridge, which Iraqi security forces had retaken recently after months of "clearing operations" ahead of an upcoming offensive to try to retake the city from Islamic State group control.

 

The attackers, who came from outside the city, demonstrated that Iraqi clearing operations have not yet cut off these cities under siege from Islamic State group support.
"The initial push was able to force the Iraqi security forces to have to withdraw off the bridge with an open lane up to the Anbar Operations Center," Warren said, referencing a central headquarters for the coalition military effort.
Roughly 60 Islamic State group fighters were killed once the Iraqi security forces were able to reorganize and retake the ground with the support of coalition airpower.
"The Iraqi security forces impressed us. They performed well. These are forces we've trained using equipment we've provided," Warren said. "We can't forget, this is still war. And this enemy does have a little bit of fight left in them. So we shouldn't be Pollyannish about this."