Low Supplies, Political Disputes in Anbar

But after this, al-Dulaimi was flown to Germany where his serious injuries were treated and he has now been away from the job for over three months. If officials are absent from their posts for more than three months the Iraqi Constitution says they may be dismissed. Last week members of Anbar’s provincial council did just that, voting to dismiss al-Dulaimi.

However the tribes that supported al-Dulaimi’s election have not been pleased about this and say that they reject the council’s decision. This has led to political conflict between Anbar’s tribes with some tribal leaders even threatening to stop fighting the IS group, at what is obviously a crucial time for unity.

Currently the IS group or their allies control seven major cities in the Anbar province – these are Fallujah, Karamah, Anah, Rawa, Heet, Al Qaem and Al Rutba. The cities still controlled by the Iraqi government or their allies include Ramadi, Haditha and Khalidiya. But these three cities are facing daily attacks from the IS group and in fact, fighters from the group have made advances in parts of Ramadi and Khalidiya over the past few days.

“All of Anbar could fall into the hands of the IS group any day now,” military and security expert Saad al-Alusi, also the former spokesperson for Iraqi military intelligence, told NIQASH. “Surely the government must know that preventing the rest of Anbar from falling into the IS group’s hands is going to be much easier than liberating  those parts of the province after they’ve fallen.”