The bloody battle for Ramadi: Violent footage shows ISIS clashing with Iraqi forces inside destroyed city where bodies of dead soldiers litter the streets

Home Top

Inside Billionaire Lane: The East Coast's most exclusive five-mile stretch of land filled with the mansions of the rich and famous from fashion designers, property tycoons to the Wolves of Wall Street
Protesters block highway as white cop is cleared and allowed to walk free after shooting unarmed black couple through their windshield in 137-bullet barrage
Convict suspect who used to work for millionaire CEO father 'got his assistant to hand-deliver $40,000 ransom to the home but still tortured four hostages to death'
Tragic mom, 24, hospitalized after she was found pushing her dead son, 3, in a swing at park
German woman aged 65 gives birth to quadruplets two and a half months prematurely
'Our kids deserve more': Moment angry father lets rip at school board for failing to prevent bullied 13-year-old's suicide
Bristol Palin says she still feels 'blessed' on what would have been her wedding day after calling off marriage to marine amid 'secret wife' claims
Sharon Osbourne collapses at her home due to 'exhaustion' and will take a month-long break from The Talk to recover
EXCLUSIVE 'She's a very nice girl, she was just having a moment': Family of adorable toddler, who upstaged Obama with her White House tantrum reveal how laid-back President took it in his stride
Video footage emerges of moment Washington stepbrothers 'stole case of beer from a store' before they were both shot by a cop
Murder rate sharply rises in Baltimore, but arrests plummet in the wake of Freddie Gray's death
Divorce battle over $20million restaurant empire turns nasty: Celebrity chef Bobby Flay hits back at claims he was unfaithful and blames ex-wife's stress-related 'ill health' on secret boob job
'I refuse to give them my joy': Inspiring man released after 28 years on death row reveals how he's learning to move on with new life of freedom
Casey Kasem's widow won't face criminal charges after the radio host's three children filed to have her prosecuted for elder abuse
Police records on Josh Duggar child molestation case are DESTROYED 'after request from the victim' as he cancels appearance at homeschooling conference and looks set to be cut from the show
'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and victims': TLC takes 19 Kids and Counting off the air after revelation Josh molested young girls and his parents covered it up
REVEALED: Founder of faith-healing clinic that 'treated' Josh Duggar resigned over accusations he sexually harassed 30 teens and young women
How this squeaky-clean photo launched the Duggars to fame in 2002 and belied their molestation secret at home... as TLC helped build their down-home empire for nine years AFTER Oprah reported abuse
Legendary actor Omar Sharif 'has Alzheimer's disease and confuses his starring roles in Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia'
Personal details of 500million Android users at risk: Researchers find it is impossible to completely clear data from handset when changing phone
'Hillary, can I ride your lap to the White House?': Clinton's secret emails reveal strange fawning interview with Wall Street Journal reporter who kept touching her knee and was called 'unacceptable' by staff
Model ex-girlfriend of Gerard Butler who claimed photographer got her pregnant during sexual assault sees rape charges dropped because DNA proved the baby wasn't his
'Ireland hasn't said Yes, it has said F*** YEAH!': Irish minister joins thousands celebrating as country votes to bring in gay marriage
'She looked at him and said 'die'': Little boy thanks the rescuers who brought him back to life after depressed mom stabbed him 'to death' with garden tool on their lawn

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
ISIS video shows how captured city now lies in ruins after fierce fighting
They cruelly show off ID cards supposedly belonging to dead Iraqi troops
They took city on May 17 after murdering over 500, displacing thousands
Iraqi forces and militia groups have retaken nearby town from ISIS control

Published: 15:36 EST, 23 May 2015 | Updated: 16:39 EST, 23 May 2015

View
comments

A new video reveals the ferocity of battling inside Ramadi as Iraq's military desperately try to recapture the city from the clutches of ISIS.

The footage appears to show Islamic State fighters attacking government troops with automatic weapons and rocket launchers - and cruelly showing off identity cards of their slaughtered enemies.

It comes amid a small military victory for Iraq's forces who reclaimed a small town from ISIS just east of Ramadi.

A coalition of government soldiers and Iranian-backed militia groups, who have amassed in the nearby Euphrates Valley, seized back Husaybah which lies four miles away.

Insurgency: A violent new video which appears to be from inside Ramadi shows ISIS militants battling with Iraqi forces

Battle: The violent footage shows Islamic State fighters setting off explosives (pictured) and attacking their enemies with automatic weapons and rocket launchers

War-torn: It reveals the staggering extent of destruction inside Ramadi, which was conquered by ISIS last week, where buildings are destroyed and vehicles ablaze

Fierce: The militants fire indiscriminately at their enemies inside the city, where they slaughtered over 500 to seize control

Aftermath: The bodies of dead soldiers (pictured) litter the streets of Ramadi where violent clashes have been taking place for weeks

Surrounded: Islamic State could make a move on Iraq's capital Baghdad after seizing control of Ramadi and Fallujah just to its west

But the battle-ravaged city of Ramadi remains overwhelmingly under Islamic State control after the terror group captured it on May 17 - murdering over 500 and displacing tens of thousands in the process.

A police colonel on the front lines said 'Husaybah area is now under full control and the forces are now advancing' to liberate neighbouring towns as they progress west towards Ramadi.

Retaking Ramadi will be much more challenging because ISIS has reportedly laid booby traps around it.

Its buildings have are in rubble after weeks of savage fighting and dead bodies of fallen soldiers litter the city streets, the newly released video shows.

It also shows a massive cache of weapons including rocket launchers, grenades, automatic weapons and sniper rifles, which suggests Islamic State are prepared for a long battle.

The depraved militants triumphantly hold up a collection of ID cards which seemingly belong to Iraqi soldiers they have killed.

Seized: Iraqi troops reclaimed a small town east of Ramadi today but the battle-ravaged city remains overwhelmingly under Islamic State control

Cruel: In the video released on ISIS social media channels, the militants cruelly show of the ID cards of their slaughtered enemies

Enemy: One Islamic State fighter holds up a uniform belonging to a slain member of Iraq's Emergency Response Brigade

Violence: The 13-minute video shows ISIS fighters shooting at their enemies and laying down covering fire (pictured) for their allies

Triumphant: Amid the violent clashes, ISIS militants walk openly through the streets of the war-torn city

Iraq's soldiers were heavily criticised for fleeing during the battle of Ramadi, whose fall was Islamic State's greatest military victory in over a year.

As was the strategy of the United States-led coalition whose airstrikes on the city failed to prevent an overwhelming defeat.

Taking Ramadi will... make the Shia militia in Baghdad even more radicalised and more dangerous... And this is what ISIS wants, it wants it to come out and have sectarian scrap which forces all the Sunni's to go towards ISIS

Professor Gareth Stansfield, RUSI

It forced the country's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to deploy Shi'ite militia groups, who occupy the capital Baghdad, to take on ISIS in Ramadi.

Experts warned the move played into Islamic State's grand plan to plunge the region into an 'all-out sectarian war'.

'We're in for a very long summer of fighting in Iraq,' the Middle East director of counter-terrorism think-tank RUSI told MailOnline.

Professor Gareth Stansfield said: 'Taking Ramadi will... make the Shia militia in Baghdad even more radicalised and more dangerous.

'And this is what ISIS wants, it wants it to come out and have sectarian scrap which forces all the Sunni's to go towards ISIS.'

Washington has tried to remain upbeat after the loss of Ramadi and this historic Syrian city of Palmyra by playing them down as tactical setbacks.

The extremist group reportedly controls half of Syria - even though much of this territory is uninhabited.

Bleak footage shows wasteland of ISIS occupied Ramadi

War: An ISIS militant throws a grenade at an unseen enemy in the city of Ramadi, whose buildings lie in rubble after weeks of fighting

Onslaught: ISIS fire automatic weapons, rocket propelled grenades and huge mortar shells (pictured) towards their enemy

Ammunition: The huge cache of weapons which ISIS seized after taking Ramadi suggests the terror group is prepared for a long battle

Weaponry: The militants seem to have seized huge amounts of weapons and munitions from the Iraqi soldiers who fled Ramadi

Dangerous: Amid the swathes of rockets and machine guns, the militants seem to possess a huge sniper rifle

Power: A counter-terrorism expert has claimed ISIS now also controls around half of Syria although most of this territory is believed to be uninhabited

Counter-terrorism expert Fabrice Balanche claims it 'now dominates central Syria, a crossroads of primary importance' that allows it to advance towards the capital Damascus and its third city Homs.

The jihadists, who now control roughly half of Syria, reinforced their self-declared transfrontier 'caliphate' by seizing Syria's Al-Tanaf crossing on the Damascus-Baghdad highway late Thursday.

Fabrice Balanche, a French expert on Syria, said 'IS now dominates central Syria, a crossroads of primary importance' that could allow it to advance towards the capital and third city Homs.

Islamic State's advances in both countries have forced tens of thousands of innocent civilians from their homes - sparking a serious humanitarian crisis.

At least 40,000 are now homeless after fleeing Ramadi and being forced entry into the capital Baghdad where authorities are concerned there could be terrorists hiding among them.

An Iraqi politician has echoed calls from relief organisations for the authorities to open a bridge where thousands of displaced people have been waiting to reach safer provinces such as Baghdad.

Saleh Mutlaq said: 'The constitution does not allow anyone to forbid a citizen from entering any province.'