Iraqi army to attack ISIL in Albu Faraj area of Anbar

ISIL militants blew up the strategic Albu Faraj Bridge in Anbar province on Friday, causing the destruction of parts of the bridge. The bridge is very important because it connects provincial capital Ramadi to the international highway leading to Jordan and Syria.
At the same time, hundreds of families have escaped the area for Ramadi, after the ISIL militants entered AlbuFaraj. ISIL militants have also executed 33 civilians and shelled ambulances in the Sijariyah neighborhood.

Iraqi forces earlier advanced toward Ramadi, however ISIL launched a counter attack and retook Albu Farraj and Albu Aitha districts. Reinforcement forces who’ve arrived in Anbar and other military units are expected to launch an operation to drive the terrorists out of Albu Faraj.

Anbar operations are taking place from three different directions, the Sajariyah, Ramadi and Fallouja. But it seems that the operations will not be as easy as the Salahuddin operations were. According to Iraqi analysts the reason is that this time around Iraqi volunteer forces also known as Hashd al-Shaabi are barred from participation in the battle.