- Residents are fleeing Ramadi in the thousands following its capture by ISIS
- Desperate refugees are using any means necessary to reach Baghdad
- Iraqi PM says recruitment drive is needed to bolster its shattered army
- Cabinet also threatened 'harsh penalties' for troops who abandoned city
- U.S. considers accelerated training and extra weapons for militia groups
Terrified Iraqis are fleeing Ramadi in the thousands as the country braces itself for more bloodshed amid government pleas for volunteers to help it retake the city from Islamic State militants.
Residents have continued flooding into the capital of Baghdad this week after ISIS seized Ramadi from the Iraqi Army on Sunday.
Images of the desperate refugees show them making the journey by any means necessary. Young men can be seen carrying their elders towards the capital in a wheelbarrow, families being pulled along roads in makeshift trailers and the frail being pushed in wheelchairs.
A young man pushes an elderly relative towards the capital as they flee the city of Ramadi
Another group of desperate refugees pull relatives and luggage aboard a trailer towards Baghdad
An elderly woman in a wheelchair is escorted across the bridge by a Iraqi Army soldier
A young boy breaks down in tears as he is led from the family home in Ramadi towards safety in the capital
Thousands of men, women and children have fled the city after it was seized by ISIS on Sunday
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said extra recruitment is vital to efforts to recapture the key city of Ramadi
Now Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said extra recruitment is vital to efforts to recapture the key city.
Iraqi troops and allied paramilitary forces massed around the provincial capital yesterday, looking for swift action to drive the terror group out before it builds up defences.
With his security strategy in tatters and his authority facing its biggest challenge since he took office eight months ago, Mr Abadi needs a quick redemption.
A cabinet statement yesterday called for the Iraqi people to 'stand united' in the battle 'to liberate every inch of the Iraqi immaculate land from the filth of Da'esh (ISIS) terrorist gangs.'
It also vowed 'harsh penalties' for 'indolent' forces who beat a hasty and chaotic retreat from Ramadi when during the ISIS attack.
In the United States, President Barack Obama gathered national security advisors to weigh accelerated training and weapons supplies for Iraqi tribes and supporting an Iraqi-led counter-offensive.
National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said: 'We are looking at how best to support local ground forces in Anbar province... including accelerating the training and equipping of local tribes and supporting an Iraqi-led operation to retake Ramadi.'
Abadi has 'ordered the setting up of new defence lines in Ramadi, to reorganise and deploy the fighting troops', his office said after talks with Iran's defence minister.
A elderly woman in a wheelchair carrying a young child is pushed across the bridge by a soldier
The displaced residents still had another 40miles to go after crossing the bridge before reaching Baghdad
Flaunting their victory: ISIS fighters parade through the Iraqi city of Ramadi after seizing the provincial capital from fleeing government troops. The government has called on volunteers to help bolster army numbers
New territory: A column of ISIS vehicles parade through Ramadi. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said extra recruitment was vital to efforts to recapture the key city of Ramadi which fell to ISIS on Sunday
ISIS supporters hold placards and flags after the terror group stormed the city of Ramadi over the weekend
Raided: Pictures posted on Twitter claim to show shops looted by ISIS after they captured the city of Ramadi
Ghost town: Fighting has forced 40,000 people from their homes, the second time in a month Ramadi residents have had to flee after ISIS took control of the city
He also called in the Shi'ite-dominated Popular Mobilisation units (Hashed al-Shaabi) to bolster the resistance.
He and Washington had hoped to rely on regular forces and locally recruited Sunni tribal fighters newly incorporated into the Hashed al-Shaabi.
Such a solution was seen as more palatable to the population of Anbar, a predominantly Sunni province and a way for Washington to keep Iranian-backed militias at bay.
The Shi'ite paramilitary groups had been eager to join the Ramadi battle for some time and argued that Abadi's reluctance led to the provincial capital's fall.
Following a belated green light, they started sending convoys of fighters to Anbar, where anti-ISIS forces are massing, mostly east and west of Ramadi.
'The US government and Iraqi government seem to be on the same sheet of music that Ramadi has to be counterattacked before ISIS consolidates,' Michael Knights of the Washington Institute said.
Backs against the wall: Iraqi soldiers hold a post as they fire towards Islamic State positions in the Garma district of Anbar province
Counter-offensive: Iraqi troops and allied paramilitary forces have massed around Ramadi, looking for swift action to drive the terror group out before it builds up defences
Resistance: Shi'ite fighters from the popular committees hold a post as they fire towards Islamic State in the Garma district of Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he was 'absolutely confident' the situation could be reversed within days.
In the other half of the terror group's self-proclaimed 'caliphate', a monitoring group said US-led air strikes in the northeastern Syrian region of Hasakeh had killed 170 IS militants in 48 hours.
Anbar police chief Kadhim al-Fahdawi said a large number of well-prepared troops were positioned in Husaybah, about seven kilometres (less than five miles) east of Ramadi.
'This area will be the starting point for the operations to liberate the cities of Anbar,' he said.
But much planning remains to be done before Iraqi forces attempt to move back into Ramadi, a large town on the Euphrates about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad.
'The military operation to liberate Ramadi and Anbar will not start until all the requirements are met,' Fahdawi said.
Analysts say Washington's strategy of carrying out air strikes while the Iraqi military is trained up has shown its limits.
After holding on for a year and a half, during which the jihadists never managed to take full control of the city, Iraqi security forces pulled out of their last bases on Sunday.
The retreat was chaotic, with groups of fighters leaving without command approval and others left stranded by their comrades.
At least 28 of them were plucked to safety in a dramatic helicopter rescue, footage of which has been aired on state TV, but many were killed and more are still missing.
The withdrawal also raised the question of the effective control the command had over its men and Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday suggested the defence of Ramadi had been less than heroic and could have been avoided.
In its cabinet meeting decisions, it supported 'honouring the fighters who resisted the terrorist attacks and imposing the toughest punishment on the recalcitrants, whose attitude had consequences for Ramadi'.
According to an official in the Anbar governor's office, at least 500 fighters and civilians were killed in the three-day blitz leading to Ramadi's fall.
ISIS released pictures of the spoils they retrieved from abandoned government bases, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles, as well as weapons and ammunition.
The group also released pictures of the moment when its fighters freed prisoners held at a counterterrorism detention facility.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, fighting has forced 40,000 people from their homes, the second time in a month Ramadi residents had to flee.
'Thousands of people had to sleep in the open because they didn't have places to stay,' said the UN's humanitarian coordinator, Lise Grande.
Officials said five displaced people, including two children, died Tuesday at the Bzeibez bridge where thousands have been waiting to cross into Baghdad governorate.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3088957/Desperate-Iraqi-government-calls-VOLUNTEERS-troop-shortages-prepares-Ramadi-ISIS.html#ixzz3akHDI4UL
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