24 May 2015

In Baghdadi, a fierce ISIL attack targeted the local government complex in the western sector of the town; the attack consisted of 3 suicide bombers who infiltrated from the eastern side of the complex; two explosives-rigged vehicles were blown up before they reached a military barracks on the edge of the complex. Iraqi gun ships also carried out a number of sorties against ISIL positions and concentrations.

Also today, a number of families fled their homes and headed toward the Ayn al-Asad military base. About 5 km from the base, a large explosives-laden truck was detonated at a military barracks, killing a number of security personnel and tribal fighters. The fighting in and around Baghdadi that erupted around dawn today has become less intense during the day and is now limited to a number of smaller clashes.

Security forces have advanced into the areas east of Ramadi; Khalidiya and eastern Husayba have now been secured. A small number of families have today been returning to their homes in these liberated areas.

In Fallujah, 3 residents have been reported killed and 7 wounded by the indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between the security forces on the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city. Meanwhile the southwestern outskirts of the city are relatively calm.

In Garma, military operations are continuing unabated.

On the humanitarian front, the plight of the migrants massed at the Bzaybiz Bridge and those encamped in Amiriyat al-Fallujah remains unchanged, with severe shortages of food and water.