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Baghdad, Iraq – October 11, 2014

1. Wide of Iraqi security checkpoint, cars lined up to pass through

2. Various of Iraqi police walking holding sonar device in his hand as cars pass checkpoint

3. Cars driving up to checkpoint

4. Various of Iraqi police checking a car

5. Armed policeman at checkpoint

6. Various of Iraqi armored vehicle near the checkpoint

7. Various of street scenes in Karradah, central Baghdad

STORYLINE:

Iraqi forces are still battling Islamic State fighters on the western edge of the Iraqi capital, only adding to the sense of siege in Baghdad, despite airstrikes by a US-led coalition.

The fighting is going on in Abu Ghraib, the town home to the infamous prison of the same name that’s only 18 miles (29 kilometres) from the Green Zone – the fortified international zone protecting Baghdad-based embassies and several central government facilities.

There was a heavy security presence in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, although security experts say the Islamic State group, who now control a large swathe of territory along the border that Iraq and Syria share, won’t be able to fight through both government forces and Shiite militias now massed around Baghdad.

Analysts are saying that it isn’t plausible at this point to envision IS taking control of Baghdad, but they could make life in the capital so miserable that it would threaten the legitimacy of the central government.

The siege fears in Baghdad stem from recent gains made by the Islamic State group in the so-called Baghdad Belt – the final stretch between Anbar province, where the group gained ground in January – and Baghdad.

The group has had a presence in the Baghdad Belt since spring, Iraqi officials say, but recent advances have sparked new worries.

To the south of Baghdad, security forces fight to hold onto the town of Jurf al-Sukr, and to the north, one Sunni tribe has held onto the town of Duluiyah, despite an Islamic State onslaught.

However, Islamic State fighters have taken over a number of towns in Diyala province, east of Baghdad.

An independent local security analyst said there appeared to be a lack of coordination between Iraqi forces and the international effort.

Yet authorities believe an assault to take Baghdad remains unlikely.

Beyond the US-coordinated airstrikes and the massing of Iraqi troops, the country’s religious and ethnic lines are likely to staunch any advance by the Sunni militants of the Islamic State group.

From Baghdad further south, Iraq’s population is overwhelmingly Shiite and the lands there are home to some of its most important shrines.

Already, Shiite militias back up government forces in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, and challenging them is likely to be a very difficult task for IS militants.