Iraq government struggles to contain Isis gains in Anbar province

Iraqi officials are struggling to confront jihadi militants as they advance on the provincial capital of Ramadi in the vast province of Anbar, west of the capital.

Sunni tribal leaders from Anbar on Wednesday issued a statement calling for the intervention of some Shia militias after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isis, made gains in and around Ramadi despite a government offensive to retake Anbar province, 80 per cent of which is under Isis control.

"Al-Anbar province's sons are calling [on] all our brothers in the south, including [Iraq's top Shia cleric] Ali al-Sistani, and all factions of the resistance and the [volunteers] to immediately intervene to save the province and the remaining families who have shown steadfastness," Muhammad Mikhlif, an Anbar tribal leader told state television.

Salah Mutlaq, Iraq's Sunni deputy prime minister, called for an urgent meeting of local and national officials to address the looming crisis, warning that an Isis takeover of Anbar would directly threaten Iraq's neighbours. 

Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi is currently in Washington for talks with President Barack Obama and will request additional aid for the fight against Isis that could include aircraft and financial assistance to plug gaping deficits in Iraq's overburdened budget.

Mr Obama has offered $200m in humanitarian assistance and insisted that any military aid be accompanied by improvements in Iraq's political climate. He has also called for decreased reliance on irregular Shia forces perceived by many Sunnis as Iranian-backed sectarian militias.

Washington and Baghdad fear the growing political clout of Shia militia groups and pressured them to partially withdraw from Ramadi this week. US-led aircraft subsequently hit Isis positions in the town and surrounding areas in an effort to prevent the group from overrunning the last major government-controlled centre in the province.

According to a recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, when Isis stormed Iraq from its strongholds in Syria: "The battle for Anbar province will likely require more resources than any other operation against Isis since June 2014."

But efforts to take on Isis without militia help appear to be faltering. Mr Mikhlif said on Wednesday that Isis had stormed the Albu-Ghanim and Albu-Sudah districts adjacent to Ramadi and carried out "massacres against civilians".

Other officials said that hundreds of families had been displaced from their homes in and around Ramadi. "Isis gangs have taken unarmed civilians as human shields in those areas and killed 35 civilians, including a child and three women," Fadil Ghurawi, a member of Iraq's high commission for human rights, was quoted as saying.

Provincial governor Sohaib al Rawi said that the government had dispatched reinforcements and armoured vehicles to Ramadi and other hotspots in Anbar in an effort to beat back Isis advances.

Iraqi forces backed by Shia militias and volunteers, and bolstered by US-led air strikes, drove Isis out of Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, late last month.

But the jihadi group has rebounded in other parts of the country. It stepped up attacks on Iraqi positions in Diyala province in recent days. Five car bombs that killed and injured dozens of mostly Shia Iraqis in Baghdad were detonated by suspected Sunni groups allied with Isis on Tuesday.

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