The Islamic State’s attacks to take the Iraqi town of Ramadi and the oil refinery at Beiji were likely surges to coincide with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s trip to the United States and don’t reflect the Islamic State’s dwindling capability, U.S. Central Command said Friday.
The near continuous airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since Operation Inherent Resolve began last year has made it nearly impossible for the Islamic State to reconstitute itself with the same type of fighting force it had last summer, and its capabilities should further dwindle in the coming months, Centcom said.
“If you think back to last summer — you saw these videos of [Islamic State] forces racing through towns with their flags in large masses. You don’t see that anymore. What you see now is [the Islamic State] moving now in smaller and more dispersed groups because they know whenever they get into groups we are going to strike them,” said Centcom spokesman Air Force Col. Pat Ryder.
The day before, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters that the ability of the Islamic State to still take Ramadi was reflective of the few numbers of Iraqi security forces operating there, and was one of the topics he emphasized with Abadi during the Iraqi prime minister’s visit.
In Beiji, the Islamic State was able to advance on the strategic oil refinery there, but Centcom emphasized that they are being repelled by continuous airstrikes, with 17 in the last several days and more than 200 since the Islamic State fighters first started to threaten the city. There have been 111 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Ramadi since Operation Inherent Resolve began.
The Islamic State still holds Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, in the north, but has been cut off from the new fighters or equipment it would need for any further advances, Ryder said.
“If you look in the north, they are conducting harassing attacks [such as IEDs] – they don’t have the ability to conduct any sort of major offensive,” he said. The group’s supply line to new fighters and equipment is being sliced by “shaping” airstrikes in Syria “that prevent [Islamic State forces in Syria] from providing capability in Iraq. So that’s the key aspect of this campaign, to buy Iraq the time it needs to get back on its feet.”
The update on Inherent Resolve — Centcom’s first major interaction with the Pentagon press corps since a controversial briefing in February on anticipated operations in Mosul — provided few other details on the state of play in Iraq.
For example, Centcom officials did not release any details on Friday’s car bomb attack on the U.S. consulate in Erbil, which has long been considered one of the most stable locations for U.S. operations.
