ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi forces are advancing in western Ramadi toward the town of Hit to recapture territories from the Islamic State (ISIS) group, an Iraqi commander said Tuesday. “Iraqi anti-terror forces managed to take over Mhamadia, and now our forces have set up there,” an Iraqi commander told Rudaw. “We managed to defuse 50 planted landmines and we are hoping to head towards the town of Hit,” he added. He said the town could be in Iraqi Army hands by the end of the day. Iraqi forces are concentrating on Hit in the western province of Anbar, where citizens have been fleeing and plans are underway to evacuate more people. At a checkpoint on the western edge of Ramadi on Sunday, a line of cars and trucks carrying families fleeing Hit waited as Iraqi Army officers checked papers and searched through luggage, The Associated Press reported. “The liberation of Mhamadia will simplify the military operation to retake Hit town after many of ISIS’s stronghold positions were targeted by the Iraqi forces,” the Iraqi Army commander told Rudaw. Mhamadia is only about 7 kilometers from Hit district. Iraqi security forces ins Anbar say there are many foreigners among the ISIS fighters. They said residents are trying to flee, as ISIS wants to use them as human shields. An Iraqi soldier taking part in the fighting said that anti-terrorism forces have seized vehicles, weapons and ammunition from the militants. “We cleared the main Mhamadia- Ramadi road of landmines, to protect the lives of civilians,” he said. Eid Amash, a spokesperson for the Anbar provincial council, recently told Rudaw that ISIS has withdrawn from several towns in Anbar after recent defeats. Amash believes that ISIS is crumbling under coalition airstrikes and advances by the Iraqi army. On Monday, Iraqi forces announced they were suspending operation in Hit and Haditha to allow residents to leave. ISIS seized Ramadi on May 17 last year, in what is considered one of the jihadists’ most important victories. Most of Anbar, the largest province in Iraq, fell to ISIS fighters in January 2014.
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