Anbar province headed toward isolation
As fighting continues in western Iraq's Anbar province, some warn that continued fighting will isolate the province from the rest of the country in the upcoming elections.
BAGHDAD — Reports about the military operations in the Anbar province suggest that the “decisive moment” remains elusive. There are battles involving Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants, fighters from the province’s tribes and members of the regular military forces, with no clear winning team on the ground.
These conditions drive many politicians and security experts to believe that what is happening in the volatile province is a kind of a war of attrition that may widen and thus pave the way for a Syrian scenario in Iraq.
Since late December, Anbar has been witnessing large-scale military operations where various weapons are being used. These weapons include US and Russian arms that Iraq has started to import to fight armed groups.
Various Iraqi security and media sources from Anbar told Al-Monitor during the last days of January: “The conflicting parties take turns in gaining control of the province’s neighborhoods and streets. As soon as government SWAT forces took control of ISIS centers, ISIS fighters managed to localize themselves in other areas.”
