Iraqi troops, Shiite militias launch operation to recapture Anbar

The Iraqi military command announced Monday that operations had begun to recapture the country’s largest province of Anbar from Islamic State ISIS control, nearly two months after its capital Ramadi fell to the Islamists. The force, composed of the Shiite Hashid Shaabi militia, Iraqi special forces, police and local Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, would go first for Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad. DEBKAfile: None of the past offensives against ISIS announced by the Iraqi high command in Anbar, Ramadi and the refinery city of Baiji, has ever reached a resolution.