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US To Help Militias Against Islamic State

WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama is considering faster training and more arms supplies for Iraqi tribes, while eying a rapid counteroffensive to retake Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), a US official said on Wednesday according to Al-Jazeera.

“We are looking at how best to support local ground forces in Anbar province,” National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey told the local news agency, “including accelerating the training and equipping of local tribes and supporting an Iraqi-led operation to retake Ramadi”.

Ramadi, a city in Iraq’s Sunni heartland just 90 minutes’ drive away from the capital Baghdad was taken by ISIL on Sunday.

Iraq’s army and allied militias are currently massed around Ramadi, looking for swift action to recapture the city from ISIL before it builds up defences. The UN said on Tuesday that at least 25,000 people had escaped the city ahead of the expected battle.

The audacious military victory was a major blow in the battle against ISIL, calling into question Obama’s strategy in Iraq and the authority of his ally, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Obama has repeatedly ruled out sending vast numbers of US troops back to the theatre of a bloody and unpopular nine-year war that he vowed to end. Instead, he has vowed to support Iraq’s struggling army and hit ISIL from the air.

There has also been support for disparate Iraqi militias that have proven a more potent fighting force than army or police regulars.

“The Iraqi government needs to launch an immediate counteroffensive before ISIL can consolidate its power, both for symbolic reasons and because of Ramadi’s proximity to Baghdad,” said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute according to Al-Jazeera news.

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