The Iraqi army has declared that it gained control over the Jazira area of Khalidiya, which is halfway between Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province. With this gain, the army has acquired a strategic point that al-Qaeda has been using for years to maintain its presence and movement in a complex area that extends from Anbar to Salahuddin and Mosul in the north, and to Baghdad and Diyala in the east.

But maintaining control of Khalidiya — which lies on the Euphrates River and includes villages surrounded by agricultural and desert areas stretching south toward the western desert and north toward the Jazira desert in Salahuddin — is not an easy task. Even though al-Qaeda elements have left the area, this does not mean that the government presence there is secure.

The Anbar Operations Command and the Iraqi Interior Ministry confirmed on Jan. 20 that it stormed, with the help of the tribes, the Jazira-Khalidiya area and the town of Albu Bali. They reported that a commander for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and dozens of fighters were killed in the region and the police stations have reopened.

The course of the Khalidiya battle indicates that the ISIS never intended to stay in the area, despite its strategic importance. The ISIS has kept the Iraqi forces and tribal fighters busy for nearly two weeks in that small area.