US-led coalition says Ramadi to fall soon

WASHINGTON

Iraqi forces alongside Sunni tribal fighters have begun to enter Ramadi, capital of the western Iraqi province of Anbar, as of early Tuesday, according to the U.S.-led coalition spokesman.

Col. Steve Warren told reporters in a tele-conference briefing that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) penetrated the city of Ramadi, which has been controlled by Daesh since May.

“The fall of Ramadi is inevitable. You know, the end is coming,” he said. “There's still tough fighting ahead in Ramadi's dense urban terrain.”

Noting that there was no Shia militia taking part in the offensive on Ramadi, Warren said that once the city is taken back, security will be assured by Sunni tribal fighters as well as the Anbar police - the local force that has been trained by Italian Carabinieri coalition partners.

“There will probably be some ISF involved as well. And then part of the stabilization -- the stabilization force, that's where we see some of the U.N. agencies and some of the State Department personnel, USAID, come to bear both by providing resources and advice,” he added.

Warren also revealed two documents that were recovered from a Daesh unit in operations around Fallujah last week.

He said one of the documents appeared to be an order directing Daesh fighters to “impersonate Iraqi security forces” and “to commit atrocities against the civilian population before they withdraw”.

Noting the authenticity of the documents, Warren said: “The fighters in this order are directed to film their actions, distribute the videos, and to do all this in order to discredit both the ISF and the government of Iraq.”

Warren told reporters that the other documents was a Daesh directive banning people from watching television or from buying, installing or repairing satellite systems.

“ISIL [Daesh] claims that this ban is to protect them from corrupting their faith,” he added.