Heavy rain halts operation to free Iraq's Ramadi
Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:
Heavy rain on Thursday halted a military offensive to free Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, from Islamic State (IS) militants, a security source said.
"Operations to liberate Ramadi was suspended because of bad weather, as heavy rain fell on the area since last night," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
However, the source confirmed that Iraqi and international aircraft continued bombardment on IS positions in and near Ramadi despite the bad weather.
The suspension was the second in this week due to bad weather as the troops stopped their advance toward Ramadi.
The security forces resumed their operations on Sunday and managed in the following days to advanced to the edges of the IS-held city, which is located some 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Early on Thursday, an Iraqi warplane struck an IS position in central Ramadi, leaving at least eight IS militants killed and five others injured, the source added.
Security forces and allied militias have been fighting for months to retake control of key cities and towns in Anbar, Iraq's largest province, from IS militants, which has seized most of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad. Endit