ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The military campaign to recapture Anbar has become a controversial issue in Iraqi media with political parties blaming each other for the fall of Ramadi and some Sunni groups denouncing the inclusion of Shiite militias as fanning sectarian tensions.
“Those who call the Anbar military campaign sectarian are those who oppose the participation of the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) in the battle for Anbar, and they want ISIS to stay there. Without the Hashd al-Shaabi, no place can be liberated from ISIS,” Iraqi MP Abbas Bayati told Rudaw Monday.
Since the Anbar campaign began, Iraqi forces have not achieved a significant victory. The Anbar provincial capital Ramadi is still held by ISIS. This comes despite reports Iran has strengthened its power in the region by providing heavy weapons to the Hashd al-Shaabi and the presence of its military advisers in Iraq.
“It has been argued that Iranian advisers have taken an active part in the fight against ISIS in Iraq by providing heavy missiles to the Iraqi army to use in the battle for Anbar,” Abdul Wahab Ali, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi Parliament, told Rudaw Monday. “Other neighboring Sunni countries such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia are not happy.”
According to information obtained by Rudaw, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on the US to intensify its airstrikes against ISIS in Ramadi along with sending Iraq fighter jets to defeat the group.
But even as attention has shifted to Ramadi, preparations to recapture Mosul have not begun. Now the two largest provinces are held by ISIS and political analysts believe if the ongoing political disputes between Shiites and Sunnis continue, another sectarian conflict in Iraq will emerge.
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