After the liberation of the capital of Salahuddin Region, Tikrit, in April and after chasing Jihadists off the Beiji oil site during the summer, Iraqi Armed Forces and anti-Da’esh Coalition Military Command are reconsidering the priorities of the military campaign, shifting the focus from Niniveh province, where the plans to liberate Mosul are postponed, to Anbar province, where the capital Ramadi falled into the hands of Da’esh in May.
Anbar is a Sunni-majority province where Da’esh propaganda has found fertile ground. It is the most important hub between Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, which control is fundamental to cut the communication and supply lines of Da’esh in the Euphrates Valley. Anbar province is also the place from where the expansion of the “Caliphate” started in 2014.
Currently, Iraqi Army is pursuing a three-prongs operation, backed by the Coalition air cover, that aims to surround Ramadi. In August, the operations led Iraqi Forces to the outskirts of Anbar’s capital, inflicting losses to Islamic State in terms of casualties, vehicles and armaments. Once Hamira, in the south outskirt, will be liberated, the Army will proceed with the fully conquest of Ramadi.
On August 2, Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Haider al-Abadi participated to a meeting with the Officials of the Coalition. In this occasion, he expressed his satisfaction for the successful operations but stated the necessity to redouble efforts to achieve victory.
These last military developments seem to be borne out by the Turkish recent agreement to U.S. military to use its Incirlik base to attack Islamic State.
This decision and the Turkish raids may be the turning point in the war against Da’esh.
However, the decision to start the operations against Da’esh in Syria taken by the Turkish Presidente Erdogan was follwed by a more controversial one. Erdogan decided also to hit Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in Iraq. Both the Iraqi PM al-Abadi and the Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani called upon Erdogan to respect Iraqi sovereignty.
