Battle of Ar-Rutbah (2016)

Last updated

Ar-Rutbah offensive (2016)
Part of the War in Iraq and the Anbar campaign (2015–16)
USMC-090101-M-0493G-066 (cropped).jpg
Ar-Rutbah in 2009.
Date16–18 May 2016
(2 days)
Location
Result

Iraqi government victory [1]

  • Iraqi Army recapture Ar-Rutbah District/Town
Belligerents

Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq

Air support
Seal of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve.svg CJTF-OIR
AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Iraq.svg Haider al-Abadi AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader)
Strength
1,000+ fighters [1] 100–400 militants [2]
Casualties and losses
4 killed,
5 wounded [3]
100+ killed [4]

The Battle ofAr-Rutbah was a military offensive in Iraq launched by the Iraqi Army to recapture the strategic town of Ar-Rutbah from ISIL, along with the rest of the Ar-Rutba District.

Contents

Background

On March 13, a senior Iraqi general reported that ISIL has fully withdrawn from the city of Ar-Rutbah to Al-Qa'im, after they began leaving the night before. The withdrawal was confirmed by a member of Anbar's security council. It was also reported that ISIL had abandoned the town of Kabisa as well, and they had also withdrawn from Hīt to some degree, with Iraqi warplanes bombing the retreating militants. This was the first time that ISIL has withdrawn from a major urban area without an actual fight, and the retreat came after recent losses on the battlefield for ISIL in Syria and in the Anbar Province, including a recent offensive on Hīt. [5] [6] [7] However, ISIL returned to the town on the following day. [8]

The offensive

On May 16, the Iraqi Army launched an offensive to recapture the town of Ar-Rutbah, and the rest of the Ar-Rutba District. [2] The Iraqi Army attacked the town from three directions. [9] A US official stated that Ar-Rutbah wasn't as well defended by ISIL as Ramadi or Fallujah, and that there were 100 to several hundred ISIL militants based in the town. [2] On May 17, the commander of Anbar Operations, Major General Hadi Rseg announced that Iraqi Army fully recaptured Ar-Rutbah, and the surrounding areas in the Ar-Rutbah District. [10] During the clashes, at least 4 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 5 more were wounded, [3] and around 100 ISIL fighters were killed. [4] The town is of strategic value as it sits on key transit routes between Iraq and Jordan. Its recapture has denied the ISIL of a "critical support zone". [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallujah</span> City in Al Anbar, Iraq

Fallujah is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates River, it is located roughly 69 kilometres (43 mi) to the west of the capital city of Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ar-Rutbah</span> Town in Al-Anbar, Iraq

Ar-Rutbah is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province, completely inhabited with Sunni Muslims. The population is approximately 28,400. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman–Baghdad road, and the Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline. Considered a "wet spot", it receives 114.3 mm (4.5 inches) of rain annually, and is located on a high plateau. It has been described as "the most isolated town of any size in Iraq."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2013–2014)</span> 2014 campaign in Anbar province, Iraq

Beginning in December 2012, Sunnis in Iraq protested against the Maliki government. On 28 December 2013, a Sunni MP named Ahmed al-Alwani was arrested in a raid on his home in Ramadi. Alwani was a prominent supporter of the anti-government protests. This incident led to violence in Al Anbar Governorate between the Iraqi Army and a loose alliance of tribal militias and other groups fighting alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Iraq (2013–2017)</span> War between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State

The war in Iraq was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into full-scale guerrilla warfare following clashes in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in parts of western Iraq, and culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, which lead to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Baiji (2014–2015)</span> 2014–2015 battle

The Battle of Baiji took place in Baiji, Iraq, lasting from late October 2014 to late October 2015. In mid-November 2014, Iraqi forces retook the city of Baiji, and re-entered the Baiji Oil Refinery. However, fighting continued in the region, and on 21 December 2014, ISIL forces took Baiji and put the Baiji oil refinery under siege once again, before Iraqi forces recaptured the city on 22 October. It gave Iraqi forces complete control of the highway stretching from Baghdad to Baiji, and allowed Iraqi forces to use Baiji as a base for launching a future assault on Mosul.

The Battle of Ramadi, also called the Fall of Ramadi, was part of an ISIL offensive to capture all of the Anbar Province. Ramadi was one of the Iraqi government's last strongholds in Anbar, after ISIL's success in a previous campaign. The battle began in November 2014, and drew to a close on 14 May 2015, as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents seized hold of government buildings. On 17 May, the Iraqi Army and special forces fled the city, with 500 civilians and security personnel dead.

This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Tikrit</span> 2015 battle of the War in Iraq

The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces, receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salahuddin campaign</span> Military campaign against the Islamic State

The Salahuddin Campaign was a military conflict in the Saladin Governorate, located in north-central Iraq, involving various factions fighting against a single common enemy, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The province exited Iraqi government control during ISIL's Northern Iraq offensive when large swathes of the north of the country were captured by the militant group with the Iraqi national army quickly disintegrating in the path of its advance. In light of the sweeping gains of the militants, Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq at that time, attempted to declare a state of emergency though the Iraqi Parliament blocked his efforts to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Karmah offensive</span>

The Al-Karmah offensive, codenamed Fajr al-Karma, was an offensive launched by the Iraqi Army and anti-ISIL Sunni tribal fighters to recapture the Al-Karmah district taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq. The offensive began on 14 April 2015. During the offensive the anti-ISIL forces captured part of the city of Al-Karmah, and the old road of Al-Karmah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosul offensive (2015)</span> 2015 offensive against ISIL

The Mosul offensive (2015) was an offensive launched by Kurdish Peshmerga forces on 21 January 2015, with the objective of severing key ISIL supply routes to Mosul, Iraq, and to recapture neighboring areas around Mosul. The effort was supported by US-led coalition airstrikes. The Iraqi Army was widely expected to launch the planned operation to retake the actual city of Mosul in the Spring of 2015, but the offensive was postponed to October 2016, after Ramadi fell to ISIL in May 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ramadi (2015–2016)</span> Battle between Iraq and ISIL

The Battle of Ramadi was a battle launched by the forces of Iraq to successfully recapture the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which had taken the city earlier in 2015 in a previous battle. Air power was a major component of the battle, with the United States and other nations conducting over 850 airstrikes in the Ramadi area from July 2015 to late February 2016, and the US crediting airstrikes with 80% of the reason why the city was recaptured. By February 2016, Iraqi forces successfully recaptured the city after two and a half months of fighting. It was predicted that it would take several months to clear the city of the bombs ISIL left behind, with at least 9 months needed to clear the city's Tamim District. At the time, Ramadi had suffered more damage than any other city or town in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirqat offensive (2016)</span> 2016 offensive against ISILs positions in Mosul and the surrounding region

The Shirqat offensive, codenamed Operation Conquest or Operation Fatah, was an offensive against the positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in and around the district of Al-Shirqat District to reach the city of Mosul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2015–2016)</span> Military campaign

The Anbar campaign (2015–2016) was a military campaign launched by the Iraqi Armed Forces and their allies aimed at recapturing areas of the Anbar Governorate held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including the city of Ramadi, which ISIL seized earlier in 2015. The United States and other nations aided Iraq with airstrikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fallujah (2016)</span> Offensive that the Iraqi government launched against ISIL

The siege of Fallujah was an offensive launched in February 2016 by the Iraqi government against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in al-Karmah and in the city of Fallujah, with the aim of enforcing a siege of the latter. During the early stages of the operation, local Sunni residents revolted against ISIL for a period of three days. On 22 May, after completing preparations around the city, the Iraqi Army and supporting Shi'ite militias launched the third Battle of Fallujah.

The Battle of Hit, code named Operation Desert Lynx by Iraqi forces, was an offensive launched by the Iraqi Government during the Anbar offensive, with the goal of recapturing the town of Hīt and the Hīt District from ISIL. After the Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Ramadi, Hīt and Fallujah were the only cities still under the control of ISIL in the Al Anbar Governorate. Iraqi Forces fully recaptured Hīt and the rest of the Hīt District on 14 April 2016.

This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Battle of Fallujah</span> Battle between the Iraqi government and the Islamic State

The Third Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Breaking Terrorism by the Iraqi government, was a military operation against ISIL launched to capture the city of Fallujah and its suburbs, located about 69 kilometres (43 mi) west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The operation began on 22 May 2016, three months after the Iraqi forces had started the total siege of Fallujah. On 26 June, Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah, before recapturing the remaining pocket of ISIL resistance in Fallujah's western outskirts two days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Western Iraq campaign</span> Military campaign against ISIL

The 2017 Western Iraq campaign was the final major military operation of the 2013–2017 war in Iraq, in the western province of Anbar, and on the border with Syria, with the goal of completely expelling ISIL forces from their last strongholds in Iraq.

The Western Anbar offensive (2017) was a military operation by the Iraqi Army against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in the western districts of the Province of Anbar and on the border with Syria.

References

  1. 1 2 Adnan, Ghassan; Fitch, Asa (May 19, 2016). "Iraqi Forces Recapture Strategic Town From Islamic State" via Wall Street Journal.
  2. 1 2 3 "Iraq launches operation to retake Anbar town". The National. May 16, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Mamoun, Abdelhak. "9 security members killed, wounded in battles of Rutba District". Iraqi News. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Baghdad Takes Rutba From Islamic State; Jordan-Iraq Commercial Route to Reopen (Video): Juan Cole". truthdig.com. May 19, 2016.
  5. "ISIS pulls out of town in Iraq's Anbar: general". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  6. "IS jihadists pull out of several Iraq towns: officers". Yahoo News. March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  7. "Anbar officials see voluntary ISIS withdrawal from some towns". Rudaw. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  8. "ISIS returns to Iraqi town, 24 hours after vacating it". Deccan Chronicle. March 14, 2016.
  9. Mamoun, Abdelhak. "Security forces start liberation operation of Rutba District from 3 axes Ar-Rutbah Offensive (2016)". Iraqi News. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  10. Amre Sarhan (May 18, 2016). "Security forces fully liberate al-Rutba District, announces Anbar Operations". Iraqi News. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  11. Morris, Loveday; Salim, Mustafa. "Iraqi forces retake Rutbah from ISIS and eye Fallujah for next battle". Washington Post. Retrieved May 22, 2016.