Government Buildings in Ramadi Captured by Islamic State Group

Reports indicate that the forces of the Islamic State group have achieved their largest victory in the past six months by capturing the Anbar provincial governor's building in the city of Ramadi on Friday, May 25. According to Agence France-Presse, the capture of the governor's building is considered a defeat for Haider al-Abadi's government, the Prime Minister of Iraq, who had stated that after the capture of Tikrit, the next step would be to push back the Islamic State forces from Anbar province. The report states that in recent months, the Islamic State group had managed to get close to the city of Ramadi, but on Friday, the group's forces were able to break through the lines of the city's defending forces in a large-scale operation that began Thursday night on multiple fronts using suicide attacks and bombings. Iraqi police officials reported that the Islamic State forces were able to raise their flag over the governor's building at 2 PM on Friday. A senior police commander in Iraq, who wished to remain anonymous, told Agence France-Presse that the Anbar governor's building is now under the control of the Islamic State group. The Islamic State group also announced in a statement the capture of the governor's building and the Iraqi police. Hikmat Suleiman, the coordinator of government and tribal forces in Ramadi, confirmed that government buildings in Ramadi have been captured by the Islamic State group. He added that government forces are only resisting in a few locations against the Islamic State group. Adel al-Obeidi al-Fahdawi, a member of the Anbar provincial council, described the situation in Ramadi as 'critical.' According to Agence France-Presse, one of the Sunni tribal leaders in the region stated that people are fleeing the city of Ramadi, but all surrounding areas are currently under the control of the Islamic State group.