Al-Karmah offensive

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter flew to Baghdad Thursday for talks on Iraq's war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, whose "caliphate" is shrinking but is ramping up deadly car bombings.

Carter was to meet Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Sunni Arab tribal leaders from Anbar, the province where much of the fighting has taken place in recent weeks.

Iraq's allies June 2 pledged support for Baghdad's plan to retake the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists, whose advance Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described as a "failure" for the global community.

Iraq's plan to recapture the western city of Ramadi from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists will dominate a meeting June 2 in Paris of foreign ministers from the international coalition fighting the group, a senior US official said.

The operation by Iraqi government and allied forces to liberate Anbar and its capital Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was launched too soon, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi said May 27.

Iraqi forces closed in on Ramadi May 26 and launched an operation aimed at cutting off the jihadists in Anbar province before a major offensive to retake the city.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group has made several high-profile advances in recent days, despite a US-led air campaign against the movement in Syria and Iraq.
 
On May 17, the ISIL fighters seized Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, in their biggest victory since a major offensive in Iraq last summer.

Shiite militias converged on Ramadi May 18 in a bid to recapture it from jihadists who dealt the Iraqi government a stinging blow by overrunning the city in a deadly three-day blitz.

The vice president of the Anbar provincial parliament in Iraq, Falih el-?savi, has said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has executed 503 people, including civilians and soldiers. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called Jan. 5 for a "tribal revolution" against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in a sign of the importance Baghdad places on tribal resistance against the jihadists.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched a major attack Nov. 21 on the Iraqi city of Ramadi, capital of the troubled western province of Anbar, security officials said.
      
ISIL fighters pounded the city centre with mortar rounds, while clashes broke out all around Ramadi, one of the last urban areas partly under government control in Anbar.