Though much of the story around the fall of the Anbar Province capital of Ramadi in recent days has been predictions of Iraq retaking the city, the reality is ISIS is continuing its eastward advance.

Early in the day, Iraqi forces reported they were exchanging mortar fire with ISIS forces east of the city, and had held them off, but by evening police commanders confirmed they’d been overrun entirely by ISIS.

Iraq had tried to set up a defensive line in Husaiba, just six miles east of the city, and have fallen back even further since then, with police commanders saying they need reinforcements to even hold them off.

To put the mounting losses in perspective, Anbar is just 70 miles east of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad itself, and ISIS is making gains along a highway that threatens to put them within firing distance of western Baghdad.