Residents start fleeing as ISIS captures Ramadi

Baghdad, April 15: Residents in Iraq's Ramadi on Wednesday have started fleeing after Islamic State (ISIS) militants captured, media reported.

Residents of three villages Sjariyah, Albu-Ghanim and Soufiya in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province have started fleeing after ISIS laid siege, Al-Arabiya reported.

Fierce gun-battle has erupted in Ramadi, Iraq's Sunni heartland, after ISIS militants have started gaining ground in these villages.

"Our security and tribal forces need more military consolidation and urgency," asking "for airstrikes from the international coaltion and Iraqi forces to support security teams there," said an official.

Locals said that ISIS launched an offensive at dawn east of the city, seizing the villages Sjariyah, Albu-Ghanim and Soufiya, which had been under government control.

ISIS militants dropped bombs at a police station and captured a power plant.

ISIS was dealt a major blow this month, when Iraqi troops pushed it out of Tikrit, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's hometown.

The US military has carried out multiple airstrikes against ISIS targets near Ramadi in recent weeks.

The US and its allies began bombing ISIS targets in Syria using fighters, bomber and Tomahawk missiles in September last year.

OneIndia News