BAGHDAD—After months of sluggish progress, stalled advances, and outright failures, Iraqi troops and militias backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have surrounded the key city of Ramadi and appear poised to launch a new attempt to wrest it from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The battle that is shaping up threatens to turn into a drawn-out siege, with thousands of residents caught in the middle as the forces try to wear down the extremists since they took over the capital of western Anbar Province in May. Western officials and analysts warned that the strategy of a methodical, slow siege could make the fight even more difficult.
On Monday, Nov. 30, the Iraqi military dropped leaflets into the city, telling the remaining residents—estimated at anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000—to leave, the strongest signal yet that an assault is imminent.
But residents told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the extremists have clamped down, setting up checkpoints across the city to monitor civilians’ movements and prevent anyone from going.
“Loudspeakers from mosques give warnings that civilians are not allowed to leave, and anyone who tries to do so will be either arrested or killed,” one resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for his safety.
Ramadi, like the rest of Anbar Province, is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, the minority community that complains of discrimination by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. Some Sunnis in other parts of Anbar and in northern Iraq welcomed ISIS rule, at least initially.
Resentment of the extremists has been stronger in Ramadi, but some residents worry about the cost of dislodging ISIS, also known as ISIL and its Arabic acronym, Daesh.
