WORLD_ Pentagon: 'Tough fight' against Islamic State in Iraqi cities

WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Pentagon: 'Tough fight' against Islamic State in Iraqi cities

By Tara Copp | May 15, 2015 | 2:57 pm

U.S. officials are pressing that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is on the defensive in Iraq, despite the extremist group's gains in Ramadi and an intense fight to keep the oil refinery in Beiji from falling to the terrorist group's control.

"It is a tough fight right now," said Operation Inherent Resolve commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley.

In Ramadi, "Daesh executed a complex attack on Iraqi security forces [Friday,]" Weidley said, using the Arabic derogatory term for the Islamic State. The Iraqi forces were able to repel most of the attacks, but "some gains were made by Daesh" in the east and south of the city.

CNN reported that the Islamic State was able to capture a key government building and raise its trademark black flag above it, however, Weidley said the U.S. could not confirm whether the images shared on social media of the capture were authentic.

"Our reporting is continuing to develop from within Ramadi," Weidley said.

The United States' determination that the Iraqis are making gains against the Islamic State — such as through the retaking of Tikrit earlier this year — even as the Islamic State makes persistent gains in Ramadi and Beiji and holds Mosul, shows how critical the information warfare victory is to the overall fight.

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have offered statistics on the overall numbers of Islamic State fighters killed and targets destroyed, but referred questions on the number of casualties and losses the Iraqi security forces have endured to the government of Iraq.

On Friday, Weidley pressed that compared with last year, and the Islamic State's rapid takeover of much of the northwest portion of Iraq then, it is on the defensive now. A few minutes later, CNN reported that the Iraqi governor of Anbar Province said the Islamic State is on the offensive.

Despite gains made by the Islamic State in Ramadi, Weidley said none of the U.S. or coalition trainers will be removed from the nearby Al Asad Air Base where they are training Iraqi army recruits.

In Beiji, Iraqi security forces are fighting off a persistent offensive at the northern oil refinery city.

The refinery itself is a sprawling complex that is as large as the area from Georgetown University to the U.S. Navy Yard to Arlington National Cemetery, Weidley said. Keeping the facility, which is not operating currently due to combat and sustained airstrikes, is "the focal point of the current fight." Iraqi forces have been able to get some reinforcements to their forces holding the interior of the facility.

Weidley estimated that the ground battle in Beiji was pitting several hundred Islamic State fighters against about three battalions' worth of Iraqi forces. The fighting in Beiji has gone on for months, despite 176 U.S. and coalition airstrikes there since the Islamic State moved to take the area around the refinery and since has placed "significant pressure" on the Iraqis trying to keep the refinery from takeover.

READ MORE: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2564588

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