Iraq PM rebuts US criticism, vows to retake Ramadi ‘within days’

Prime minister Haider Al Abadi expressed disbelief at the US defence chief's stinging comments as Washington has been one of Baghdad’s key partners in the war to reclaim the ground lost to ISIL last year.

Iraqi fighters from the Shiite popular mobilisation unit hold their weapons in the outskirts of Baiji refinery north of Tikrit, in the Salahaddin province, during a joint operation with the Iraqi armyShow more

BAGHDAD // Iraq on Monday rejected accusations by the US defence chief that its security forces lacked the will to fight ISIL resulting in the loss of Ramadi.

Iraqi prime minister Haidar Al Abadi vowed on Monday to retake Ramadi in the western province of Anbar “within days”, dismissing US claims the country’s forces were not up for the fight.

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter told CNN on Sunday that the May 17 fall of Ramadi – the worst defeat Baghdad has suffered in almost a year – could have been avoided.

“We have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves,” he said.

Washington has been one of Baghdad’s key partners in the war to reclaim the ground lost to ISIL last year and Mr Al Abadi expressed disbelief at Mr Carter’s stinging comments.

"I'm surprised why he said that. I mean, he was very supportive of Iraq. I am sure he was fed with the wrong information," Mr Al Abadi told the BBC on Monday.

The loss of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s largest province Anbar, raised questions over the strategy adopted not only by Baghdad but also by Washington to tackle ISIL.

Months of airstrikes and the deployment of advisers to reform and train the security forces have failed to keep up with ISIL’s aggressive tactics.

“Carter’s remarks are surprising and likely to negatively affect the morale of the ISF,” Iraq analyst Ahmed Ali said, using the acronym for the Iraqi security forces.

Mr Ali, a visiting senior fellow at the Education for Peace in Iraq Centre, argued there were several examples of Iraqi forces showing plenty of grit and cited the Baiji refinery, where elite troops have repelled relentless ISIL attacks for months.

Ahmed Al Assadi, spokesman of the Hashed Al Shaabi umbrella organisation for Shiite militia and volunteers which Mr Al Abadi reluctantly called in for help after Ramadi’s fall, reacted angrily to Mr Carter’s comments.

“This lack of will the US defence secretary mentioned is how the enemies of Iraq have tried to depict the Iraqi security forces,” he said.

Iraqi lawmaker Hakim Al-Zamili, the head of the parliamentary defence and security committee, said Mr Carter’s comments were “unrealistic and baseless”.

“The Iraqi army and police did have the will to fight ISIL group in Ramadi, but these forces lack good equipment, weapons and aerial support,” said Mr Al Zamili, a member of the political party headed by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, who is stridently anti-American.

The government has nonetheless admitted to shortcomings, vowing to investigate the chaotic retreat from Ramadi and punish “recalcitrant” fighters.

Mr Al Abadi and Washington had hoped to keep the Hashed and its Iranian-backed militia out of the Sunni stronghold of Anbar.

But the collapse of the security forces during the fall of Ramadi was seen by most as evidence that Baghdad could not afford to do without the Hashed’s determination to fight.

"It makes my heart bleed because we lost Ramadi but I can assure you we can bring it back soon," Mr Abadi told the BBC.

Iraqi regular forces backed by the Hashed and Sunni tribal fighters from Anbar have begun clawing back land east of Ramadi over the past few days.

Mr Abadi said the major counteroffensive in Anbar would be launched in a matter of days.

The capture of Ramadi together with the ISIL takeover of Palmyra in eastern Syria last week has consolidated the extremists’ grip on the heart of their self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

On Sunday, ISIL forces crossed from Syria with two suicide car bombs to attack the Iraqi side of the southern border crossing.

Iraqi border guards promptly retreated to a nearby crossing with Jordan, saying they had repeatedly called for reinforcements, in vain.

In Iraq’s Diyala province, which the government claimed to have cleared of ISIL fighters in January, eight bombs went off almost simultaneously early on Sunday, security sources said.

Intelligence had been received of a possible wave of bomb attacks and only 14 people were wounded in the blasts in the towns of Baquba and Baladruz, a senior official said.

A top official said he feared more attacks and said Baquba was sealed off as a precaution.

* Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg and Associated Press