15 October 2014

In Ramadi today, ISIL gunmen launched a broad offensive on a number of central and southern districts in the city. There were also explosions in the vicinity of the Anbar Council seat and the Anbar Police HQ, but we do not yet know the outcome of this action.

The gunmen have also taken over some areas that had been under the control of the security forces as part of their operation aimed at seizing all of Ramadi. The Council has issued an urgent call to the central government and to the army for help.

In Hit and its surroundings, there were clashes in the southwestern sector of the town, especially when the gunmen surrounded wide areas still being controlled by tribal fighters who have also called on the local government to intervene with airstrikes.

In Baghdadi, the situation is critical following the closure of all access to the town by the gunmen; nothing in the way of produce, foodstuffs, or fuel is now reaching the town, whose local municipality has called on the local and central governments, and on humanitarian organizations to open the access routes from Hit and Haditha.

In Fallujah, airstrikes have targeted the city's perimeter; a General Hospital source has announced that 3 residents were killed and 6 wounded.

In Garma and its surroundings between the town and Salahuddin Province are now controlled by security forces.

A statement by the Anbar Council today affirms that equipment, weapons, and munitions - believed to have been imported from outside Iraq - are to be used in reinforcing army and security units, particularly in Ramadi.