Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group focused their offensive on Sunday on the city of Ramadi, backed by Sunni tribal fighters that the US plans to arm.
Authorities in the city implemented a 24-hour curfew as Iraqi armed forces and tribesmen fought to regain Ramadi’s eastern Sijariya neighborhood, which the extremist group said it captured on Friday.Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered more aerial support and weapons for both soldiers and Sunni militiamen battling the Islamic State group in Anbar province, where Ramadi is the provincial capital.
The US and Iraqi Governments have been working to woo Sunni tribesmen to support the fight, proposing the establishment of a national guard programme that will include arming and paying loyal tribesmen.The Pentagon plans to buy a range of arms for Iraq’s tribesmen, including 5,000 AK-47s, 50 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 12,000 grenades and 50 82 mm mortars. The arms supply, described in a document that will be sent to Congress of its approval, said the estimated cost to equip an initial Anbar-based force of tribal fighters is $18.5 million, part of a $1.6 billion request to Congress that includes arming and training Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
“Failure to equip these forces mean a less effective armed opposition to counter the Islamic State and its ability to gain the local support necessary to effectively control the areas it holds,” the document said.