Tens of thousands of Iraqis have fled Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, since some of its parts were seized by the ISIL (Daesh) group over the weekend.
The latest reports indicate that more than 40,000 people have escaped the militant group’s brutalities in Ramadi where the ISIL has stepped up its militancy since Sunday.
The internally displaced person (IDPs) were stranded before being allowed by the government to cross the Bzebiz bridge into Baghdad province that spans the Euphrates river.
The IDPs were initially prevented from entering Baghdad province due to some security concerns. Senior government authorities had earlier expressed fears that the ISIL militants might mingle in with the crowds and sneak into the Iraqi capital.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi army backed by volunteers launched an operation to stop ISIL from further advancing into Ramadi.
The president of the Anbar Provincial Council, Sabah Karhoot, has recently said that Iraqi security forces are in control of as much as 30 percent of Ramadi.
Popular Mobilization forces have been deployed to the city to fight the militants. The Shia volunteer forces, one of the volunteer groups who have joined the Iraqi army, were dispatched to Anbar after Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on them to join the fight to drive Daesh militants out of Ramadi.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been in chaos since ISIL started its campaign of terror in early June 2014. Since then, Iraq’s army has been joined by Kurdish forces as well as Shia and Sunni volunteers in operations to drive the ISIL militants out of the areas they have seized.
Also on Thursday, Iraqi Premier al-Abadi during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in Moscow called on Russia to further help the Arab country in the battle against ISIL.
“We understand that not only Iraq but also the neighboring countries are exposed to the threat of terrorism,” said the Iraqi premier.
