Defense Secretary Ash Crater has been apprised of the fact that for the first time, about 3,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi army soldiers were added to the fight to take back Ramadi.
During a day-long visit to Baghdad, Carter's first to Iraq since he took office in February, he spent the day getting updates and meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials and commanders in Baghdad.
Carter lauded the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's efforts to foster inter-sectarian cooperation since becoming premier last year. The Islamic State has drawn the support of many Sunnis who feel sidelined by the Shiite-led central government.
"To defeat Daesh, we need capable ground forces that we can enable and support, and we will. And getting those forces, in turn, requires inclusive governance," Carter said at the end of a meeting, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
It is reported that "several thousand" Iraqi security forces are in the early stages of a counteroffensive to retake the Iraqi provincial capital of Ramadi. An estimated 1,000-2,000 ISIL terrorists hold the city, and the Iraqi forces are isolating the city in preparation of an attack.
"So, it's important to know that we are in the very early stages of Ramadi," Col. Steve Warren told reports during a press briefing in Jordan, on a leg of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's Middle East trip, TRNS reported. "Recently, we have begun what we call isolation operations. So we're beginning to isolate Ramadi from multiple directions, along multiple avenues of approach into the city. Iraqi Security Forces are positioning themselves at various locations around Ramadi in essence to place a noose around the city and isolate it from being supported by other DAESH (ISIL) forces, by other ISIL forces, and to prevent the enemy from escaping."
Losing Ramadi was a major setback for Iraq, not just in terms of territorial loss, but for the psychological blow it inflicted on the security forces, whose confidence was already low. It has also resulted in a delay in the push to retake a city of even greater strategic importance, Mosul in northern Iraq, which has been in Islamic State hands since June 2014, according to The Lethbridge Herald.
"This is a development we are very satisfied to hear," Warren said.
