06 January 2015

In Baghdadi, an ISIL suicide bomber has blown himself up near a mosque in the Jubba area that is mostly controlled by the gunmen. Fierce fighting has also sparked a mass migration by the area's residents who made their way in boats across the river to the opposite bank and hence toward the town's center. The suicide bombing killed 3 police personnel and wounded 7 others.

The areas to which ISIL has blown up their access bridges were also engulfed in clashes.

In Hit, violent clashes have been taking place in the southern sectors of the town in which Iraqi air support has taken part. An Anbar Operations source reports that at least 21 ISIL gunmen have been killed in the fighting and at least 17 of their vehicles have been disabled.

In Haditha, a fifth consecutive attempt by the gunmen to penetrate into the town from the south and from the west has been repelled and Iraqi aircraft have destroyed at least 4 ISIL vehicles and 11 gunmen have been killed.

In Ramadi, fierce clashes in the city's southern sector have enabled security forces to seize partial control of the Hawz district where security forces snipers have also killed 4 gunmen. In the city's northern Khalidiya area, security forces are attempting to secure and disarm the explosive devices planted by the gunmen in a number of homes and buildings, but they have not yet taken over complete control of the area.

In Fallujah, recent reports about an imminent major military operation against the ISIL-occupied city have been dismissed by an Operations source, but the dismissal has not prevented a major migration by the city's residents who are moving out toward the surrounding rural areas. Meanwhile mortar fire has killed 4 residents, including one woman, and wounded 11.

On the political front, there has been a positive reaction regarding the meeting between the new Anbar governor, Suhaib Al-Rawi, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Haider Al-Abadi, who agreed to provide financing and compensation to the province's population and arming the Anbar tribal forces.