After all, and fortunately, the Shia militia forces are absent from this battle. I had great fears that Shia militias would commit sectarian abuses in Sunni-majority Ramadi, thus fueling the ...

IS tried and failed to seize Ramadi at the same time as nearby Falluja fell in late December 2013. It fought a battle of attrition for 16 months from Ramadi's rural suburbs, tying down ISF units.