RAMADI, Iraq, May 18 (UPI) -- Shiite militias arrived in Ramadi, Iraq, Monday and are assembling to recapture the city, overtaken by the Islamic State over the weekend.
The Iraqi government sought the help of the militias supported by Iran after the strategic city, 70 miles west of Baghdad, fell to IS forces. About 500 people were killed in the weekend conflict, in which armed bulldozers and suicide bombers were used to destroy gates and enter the city. IS militants flew their iconic black flag over the Anbar province government building.
"Ramadi's a bad news story, period. It's not going well. The military units we've trained in the Iraqi army (who defended the city) are basically laying down their guns and running, retired Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer of the London Center for Policy research told CNN.
The province, of which Ramadi is the capital, was the site of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by the United States in which 1,300 U.S. military personnel died.
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The arrival of Shiite groups, who defeated IS at the city of Tikrit in April, complicates the equation for the United States, whose 19 airstrikes on targets in Ramadi failed to hold back the advances during the weekend. Washington is now indirectly on the same side as the militias who battled U.S. troops in 2003. It is also a sign of Iran's deeper involvement in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave his approval Sunday for Shiite forces to enter the province in a televised announcement. He also urged pro-government forces, including his own army, not to abandon their positions in the province.
Iraqi state television presented video of columns of Shiite tanks and other vehicles entering the al-Habbaniyah military camp in Ramadi, which was abandoned by Iraqi forces.
"The loss of Ramadi does not mean the tide of the campaign has turned, and we have long said that there would be ebbs and flows on the battlefield. If lost, that just means the coalition will have to support Iraqi forces to take it back later," commented Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith.
