ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Anbar provincial council has made a call for voluntary conscription so local people can fight against ISIS in the impending battle for the province, Sabah Karhut, head of the council, said Thursday.
“The Anbar provincial council is calling on the people of the Anbar province to join the Iraqi Army in order to liberate the province from ISIS militants,” said Karhut.
He added that a large force of Hashd al-Shaabi, Shiite militias known as Popular Mobilization Units, and the Iraqi Army have already arrived in areas of Anbar province and are preparing for the battle to retake Ramadi.
Despite the rallying cry, the council has come under criticism this week over the collapse of the city's defenses.
Mohammed Khalaf, an Anbar tribal chiefs, announced Wednesday: “The majority of the Anbar sheikhs [tribal chiefs] and political figures abandoned the province and let it fall to the Islamic State militants, and they are the real mercenaries.”
Khalaf called on the Iraqi government to dismantle the Anbar provincial council.
"What happened in Anbar was the conspiracy of the governor and the provincial council of the province," said Khalaf.
The Islamic State, or ISIS, seized control of the city of Ramadi on May 17, sending Iraqi forces racing out of the city in a major loss despite the support of US-led airstrikes targeting the extremists.
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