by David Kavanagh

Earlier this week, following months of intensive preparation, Iraq’s armed forces successfully recaptured the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State militants who had held it since May.

The vital offensive saw members of the Iraqi military and allied militias, supported by a campaign of US-led airstrikes, meticulously clear the city of an estimated 400 IS fighters while avoiding complex networks of booby traps, IEDs, human shields, and other forms of resistance.

In so doing, Iraq has won what analysts are calling its first major victory against the violent extremist group since it began terrorising the region in mid-2014 in an effort to create its own Sharia-governed “caliphate” (or state).

Since last summer, IS has already lost a number of Iraqi towns and cities, such as Sinjar and Tikrit, and is also on the defensive in neighbouring Syria where Kurdish Peshmerga forces are pushing the group back.

However, the liberation of Ramadi is of particularly great strategic significance for a number of reasons.

Ramadi: the vein of Baghdad

Located in the Euphrates river valley in Iraq’s west, the city of Ramadi is the capital of primarily Sunni Muslim Anbar province, the second largest province in the nation.

Referred to by some experts as the “vein of Baghdad”, Ramadi is in close proximity and grants access to the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria (and by extension Raqqa, IS’ main stronghold in the latter), as well as the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, holy Shiite Karbala, and IS-held Fallujah.

In a propaganda tape released after IS initially took Ramadi back in May, its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stated that their next targets would be Karbala and Baghdad.

Evidently, Ramadi’s central position gives whoever controls it a crucial strategic advantage in the ongoing war.

Not only can Iraqi forces now sever some connections between different IS-dominated locales, but it can also launch further offences in the surrounding area.



A much-needed confidence boost

Prior to the victory in Ramadi, the Iraqi military and its allies had suffered a list of humiliating defeats in the battle against IS, losing the cities of Tikrit and Mosul and substantial territory in Anbar in 2014.

In Mosul specifically, two divisions of Iraq’s army, numbering 30,000 men, were routed by only 800 IS extremists.

As the conflict that has so far killed thousands and displaced around 3.2 million civilians continued, trust in the authority of a government that had already been marred by deep sectarian division and corruption fell drastically.

In fact, in many locations, the militant group have used local dissatisfaction and pre-existing conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims to recruit new fighters.

While success in Ramadi may not completely turn around public opinion in itself, it provides a breath of much-needed optimism for the country going into next year.

Following news of the victory, people all across Iraq waved Iraqi flags in celebration.

Where to now?

With US Secretary of State John Kerry committing continued US support, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has already vowed to rid the nation of IS entirely in 2016, starting with the northern city of Mosul.

“If 2015 was a year of liberation, 2016 will be the year of great victories, terminating the presence of Daesh [another name for IS] in Iraq and Mesopotamia,” he said in a televised address.

“We are coming to liberate Mosul, which will be the fatal blow to Daesh.”

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Iraq’s Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the successful capture of Mosul, the largest population centre currently controlled by IS, would effectively mark the end of the group’s caliphate in Iraq.

However, this cannot be achieved without the help of the Peshmerga, the armed forces of the autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Mosul needs good planning, preparations, commitment from all the key players,” Mr Zebari said in Baghdad on Monday.

“Peshmerga is a major force; you cannot do Mosul without Peshmerga.”

While concise planning of the next military action is vital, it is also important that effort is put into rebuilding areas already liberated.

Coordination with local police forces and tribal leaders will be necessary to help displaced families return to their homes and to ensure locations remain secure in the future.

Read further: Iraq’s battle for Ramadi isn’t just about defeating Islamic State by The Conversation.

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