Iraqi Authorities Announce Curfew in Ramadi Ahead of Operation Against IS

The Iraqi city of Ramadi is under curfew ahead of a planned security operation targeting Islamic State.






In this Sunday Jan. 11, 2015 photo, a Yazidi fighter protects the Sharaf al-Deen temple shrine, one of the holiest for the Yazidis, a religious minority whom the Islamic State group considers heretics ripe for slaughter, in Sinjar, northern Iraq

© AP Photo/ Seivan Selim

IS Launches New Offensive in Iraq, Clashes With Peshmerga Forces
MOSCOW, January 26 (Sputnik) — Local authorities announced Monday a curfew in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, ahead of a planned security operation targeting Islamic State (IS) militants, Kuwait News Agency reported.

The curfew was announced to allow Iraqi security forces to “cleanse” the city of IS “terrorist elements,” an Anbar Province security source told the news agency.

The IS has largely controlled Anbar Province, including Ramadi, since late 2013. The extremist group stepped up operations its an attempt to fully capture Ramadi in November 2014. IS militants have reportedly killed hundreds of local Sunni Muslim tribesmen in the area.

Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, has also been under IS control since summer 2014. The group has also captured large swathes of territories in neighboring Syria, where it began fighting the government in 2012. The radical Sunni group has declared a caliphate over territories it controls in both the countries.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition has been performing airstrikes on IS targets in Iraq and Syria.

2015-01-26
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