The US official said Washington would step up its aid to Iraq, including sending 1,000 anti-tank missile systems to help stop suicide car bombs and accelerating its training and equipping of tribal forces to fight IS."You'd have to be delusional not to take something like this and say: 'What went wrong, how do you fix it and how do we correct course to go from here?'," the official told reporters.Asking not to be identified, the official highlighted the IS tactic of ploughing huge "vehicle-born improvised explosive devices" (VBIEDs) into buildings and walls.In Ramadi, an explosives-packed bulldozer was used to blow up the security perimeter around a government-held compound.Around 30 vehicles such as Humvees then flowed in, many loaded heavily with explosives.Besides the more than 3,000 air strikes carried out so far, Washington has supported a deep reform of Iraq's army and offered training to Sunni tribesmen.But that failed to prevent the loss of Ramadi, where Iran-backed militias will now take the lead in any counter-attack.According to officials from Anbar, at least 500 people were killed in three days of fighting in Ramadi during which IS used waves of suicide car bombs.Tens of thousands were forced to flee their homes in the process.And on Wednesday, more than 2,000 were able to join them and escape conflict-torn Anbar after the authorities opened a bridge that had been closed for three days.
Source: Albawaba
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