How Close Will ISIS get to Baghdad?

“If the armed forces withdraw we will be killed, just as the IS killed those they considered traitors in Ramadi. And the security forces don't often trust the residents of Sunni areas. They withdraw when they feel threatened, leaving the local people to an unknown fate at the hands of the extremists.”

It is widely acknowledged that many soldiers in the Iraqi armed forces are Shiite Muslims; hence the antagonism between the soldiers and locals. The rank and file believe the Sunni populace will just turn on them at the first opportunity.

“The problem isn't the number of soldiers protecting Baghdad,” points out Sinan Taha, a teacher from the Ghazaliya neighbourhood on the western outskirts of Baghdad. “It is about their abilities and their resilience.”

“We all know that most of the IS' victories happened because security forces withdrew,” Taha points out.

Baghdad airport will be the IS group's first target, an Iraqi intelligence officer told NIQASH; he works in a joint operations command in Baghdad that coordinates the work of police, the Iraqi army and US forces and he could not be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“The army has confirmed that the IS group has intentions to come closer to Baghdad and to control villages in the Anbar province that are connected to Baghdad. This includes Ibrahim bin Ali, Amiriyat Al Fallujah and Tarimiya,” the officer told NIQASH.

These areas are all only about 20 to 30 kilometres away from Baghdad airport and the military analyst says that the IS group has the weapons to be able to shell the transport hub from there; that weaponry was apparently left behind by the Iraqi army after they withdrew from Ramadi.

It is not only Baghdadis who are starting to worry that they are not as safe as they thought they were. Provincial authorities in the province of Babel are also taking urgent steps to protect themselves from the IS group.