Australia Plays Huge Role In Retaking Of Ramadi

first published on December 28, 2015 by Will

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This morning Iraqi Forces announced a crucial victory in their fight for redemption and the retaking of Ramadi as they seized a central government compound from ISIS. The fight for the city is far from over, but progress is being made as the Iraqi units continue defeating Daesh in battles across the city.

Obviously, Iraqi Forces, the ones who abandoned the city to ISIS and fled, wouldn’t have been able to make these gains on their own. Much of their successes are actually the result of the Australian military’s involvement in the operation.

It started with the training. 300 Australian trainers, as well as an additional 100 New Zealanders, personally trained over 3,000 Iraqi troops for combat. Many of those troops are the ones currently retaking Ramadi.

The most critical component of Australia’s involvement in the Ramadi operation would be the 80 special forces troops embedded with the Iraqi fighting units. These Australian special forces troops have called in almost a thousand airstrikes, resulting in the deaths of over a thousand militants, the destruction of hundreds of fighting positions, and the demolition of dozens of ISIS vehicles, many of which were to be used as suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIED). Some of those deadly airstrikes were even carried out by Australian combat aircraft.

The shamed Iraqi Security Forces need this victory to rebuild their morale and reputation, but we also need to give credit where credit is due. Great work, Australia!