On Tuesday, ISIS fighters managed to surround one of Iraq’s major air bases. The Islamic State militants are preparing to attack Ein Al-Assad military airbase, situated between Hit and Haditha, according to Captain Omar Mohamad Hanim, from the Anbar police. ISIS was clearly able to take over more ground in Iraq since Anbar has been mostly overrun by ISIS. The Islamic State has been trying to establish a caliphate for months now. Large areas from Syria near the border with Turkey have also been taken over. Captain Omar Mohamad Hanim said that ISIS is preparing to launch rockets and also comes prepared with tanks in the villages south and east of Ein Al-Assad. Coalition forces continue the airstrikes against ISIS bases. President Barack Obama said the airstrikes against ISIS will continue in Anbar, as well as other regions. On Tuesday, during the meeting at Joint Base Andrews he declared: “This is going to be a long-term campaign, there are no quick fixes involved. We’re still in the early stages. As with any military efforts there will be days of progress and there will be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort”.
On Monday two car bombs exploded in Baghdad, ISIS fighters claiming they were behind the attacks. One of the cars targeted the police check point in Khadimiya, in the Shiite neighborhood. Twelve people were severely injured, while four others died during the blast. The other car exploded in an area called al-Utayfia. It had been drived by an ISIS fighter on a suicide mission. The Islamic State claims to have killed a member of the Iraqi Parliament during the attack on al-Khadimiya. The member of the Iraqi Parliament is believed to be Ahmad al-Khafaji, also a member of the Badr Organization. Since the coalition airstrikes began, people in the area believe ISIS managed to advance even more. The Iraqi army seems to be unable to face ISIS. During the recent attacks, it lost control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. Now it is trying to remain in control over Anbar, but ISIS fighters seem to have surrounded a key area in that region.
As far as the Islamic State’s advances in Syria, they managed to reach a key strategic city, Kobani. The coalition airstrikes are strongly focused on Syria. They were supported by Saudi Arabia, as well. The U.S. Central Command declared on Tuesday that they had attacked ISIS near the city of Kobani. They claim to have destroyed two staging locations, a building, a truck and managed to damage other ISIS property as well. Near the city of Dayr az Zawr, the coalition stroke a modular oil refinery in an attempt believed to be successful. The analysis done by the coalition military up to this point, state that the airstrikes have managed to slow down ISIS. However, this does not mean that the situation is even close to being under control. The Islamic State attempts to win back territory. New members joining in the fight for Islam from all over the world also pose a real problem for the fight against them.