Mr Ameri’s strategy runs the risk of looking as if he is effectively partitioning Anbar and other Isil-held territory off from the rest of Iraq. He said he did not know when any attempt to retake Anbar would begin. Fighters are pouring in to defend those areas near Ramadi, like the Habbaniyah air base and the towns of Khaldiya and Husseibeh, still in government hands.