The Liberation of Ramadi

Lt. Gen. Falah Faris Hassan shares insights on this strategic win for Iraqi forces

The battle for al-Ramadi is considered one of most important strategic defeats for the Da’ish terrorist group. The Iraqi Armed Forces played a noble role in liberating the city and preserving the lives and possessions of residents trapped in the battle zone and aiding their evacuation. The Iraqi Air Force played a leading role in dropping humanitarian aid to besieged areas, providing medical and food relief for residents during the period of Da’ish control. Their efforts helped gain Ramadi citizens’ trust and support for their national Army’s efforts in defeating terrorism. Unipath interviewed Lt. Gen. Falah Faris Hassan, a pilot and technical affairs deputy commander of the Iraqi Air Force, who played a major role in the success of Air Force missions:  

UNIPATH: The role of the Air Force was apparent in the battle of Ramadi. Were there teams that played a special role in the success of Air Force missions?

LT. GEN. FALAH FARIS HASSAN: There were men working in the shadows like a beehive, and most of their efforts are never mentioned in the media. They are the engineers and technicians who played a major role not only in maintaining pilot and airplane safety, but in sustaining aircraft performance as well. In addition, every airstrike includes a team of engineers, technicians and crews providing warriors with fuel and ammunition. Therefore, the success of any operation is a result of the harmony within the team.

Regarding the Ramadi battle, it was an epic event written by members of the counterterrorism team, the Air Force, ground forces and tribesmen heroes, so it was a battle that every Iraqi can be proud of, regardless of the difficult logistics because of roadblock and fronts overlapping where Da’ish terrorists were controlling the major roads that connect Baghdad to Ramadi City. Furthermore, the Air Force had a major role in moving ammunition, supplies, and combat and support elements. As a matter of fact, we were transporting hundreds of tons of materiel and thousands of fighters from bases and headquarters to the front lines.

UNIPATH: Do you have a tally of the missions and loads?

LT. GEN. FALAH: Statistics from the end of December 2015 show we moved roughly 750,000 tons of ammunition, supplies, fuel and drinking water. During that time, Da’ish was besieging Haditha City and the neighboring villages, so we had to deliver drinking water for citizens there in addition to materiel for fighters.

UNIPATH: What was the humanitarian role for the
Air Force in the besieged areas?

LT. GEN. FALAH: We faced the problem of besieged civilians in Haditha City and the villages on the western banks of the Euphrates River. Roadblocks and fierce battles taking place in Khan al Baghdadi and Ramadi made it impossible to reach such villages, and residents there had no food or drinking water. Iraqi Armed Forces took responsibility for delivering food to them and transporting patients to Baghdad hospitals and returning them home after their medical treatment ended. In addition, we managed to transport Ministry of Health (MoH) medical teams to the blockaded areas to provide vaccines for smallpox, a disease that reappeared in the area because of the lack of health care and the presence of foreign fighters who had no medical checkups or previous vaccines. However, we managed to control such illness, and I’d like to praise the MoH role in becoming one of the most supportive ministries in this regard. Furthermore, MoH coordinated with the Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs (DoHA) in the Ministry of Defense and managed to deliver drugs and vaccines to hot zones and besieged areas. MoH and DoHA transported such supplies to Ain al-Assad Air Force Base, and the ground forces resumed the task by delivering the supplies to above-mentioned areas by finding safe routes. Regardless of the roads’ risk and the Da’ish siege, Armed Forces men were helping citizens there by delivering humanitarian aid. In fact, this operation was one of the bravest operations conducted by the Armed Forces, the MoH and tribesmen in Anbar province.

UNIPATH: What about transporting civilians who escaped from Da’ish oppression to safe zones? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: Yes, we transported a large number of civilians from fighting areas to safe zones allocated by the government for their temporary housing, and citizens’ joy was overwhelming as Soldiers rescued them from such danger.

UNIPATH: What security measures ensured that Da’ish didn’t infiltrate military bases by posing as civilians? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: Regarding patients’ cases, the process was conducted by having a list of specific cases provided by military units deployed in such areas and such a list was subjected to an accurate security assessment before patients were transported to Ain al-Assad Air Force Base, where there was another check conducted by the AFB security team and another check before patients boarded airplanes. In the case of escaped civilians, the security checks were very accurate in terms of identification papers, luggage and so forth. Furthermore, we were aware that we were fighting a vile enemy with no respect for innocent lives, and therefore the civilians understood and cooperated with our security measures, knowing that such procedures were established for their safety.

UNIPATH: How did evacuations take place? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: Ground and air forces worked together as one team, and I’d like to praise the role of 7th Iraqi Army Division and al-Jazeera operations that played a significant role in this regard in determining areas and number of civilians and helping in transporting them to Ain al-Assad. Each day, this Air Force base admits a lot of civilians with official documents issued by military units deployed in their areas. Our role is confirming the authenticity of such documents by communicating with the 7th Division and al-Jazeera operations. After civilians entered the AFB, they were placed in secure, safe areas prior to leaving by airplanes for safe zones. The operation was complicated, but the cooperation of civilians and the Anbar Provincial Council played a major role in its success. Cooperation between civilians and Soldiers was something to be proud of.

UNIPATH: What was the role of Iraqi Air Force and coalition air power in Ramadi’s liberation? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: I’ll be humble and say the contribution of the coalition air forces in defeating terrorism and destroying the defense lines was major. Coalition air force involvement contributed to the final ground push: An air attack took place prior to troops entering Ramadi City, and it was an accurate, sweeping attack based on very accurate intelligence. Moreover, civilians provided the required information about Da’ish defensive lines and gathering sites and the location of weapons caches, roads and explosives workshops. Our forces on the front lines witnessed the air strikes as if they were watching a movie about a futuristic war and applauded and sang with joy whenever a rocket reached its target. Casualties among civilians were limited, thanks to the civilians and tribesmen who pinpointed targets. The Iraqi and coalition air forces handed the Ramadi cleansing mission to counterterrorism units and special operations forces that accomplished epic deeds to make every Iraqi citizen proud. The role of tribal forces was significant in the Ramadi battle because of their deep knowledge regarding safe roads, explosives depots and terrorist hiding spots.

UNIPATH: How were civilians evacuated before the battle?

LT. GEN. FALAH: The Iraqi Air force dropped leaflets with instructions for civilians to move toward certain safe places to avoid harm. The coalition forces attacked Da’ish checkpoints and detachments to clear the way to those safe places and provided an air umbrella to protect civilians. Furthermore, ground forces managed to transport civilians to the “Tourist City” in al-Habbaniya, and that had been accomplished during the period of air attacks as ground forces prepared to enter Ramadi. The air strikes were conducted in two phases: The coalition first attacked terrorists at night, and the Iraqi Air Force and Army air fighters attacked terrorists during the day.

UNIPATH: What challenges inhibited the Ramadi liberation mission?

LT. GEN. FALAH: I can say at this point — and the coalition air force will agree with me — that we hesitated hitting certain valuable targets because of their closeness to residential areas. We were receiving target coordinates from counterterrorism units, and Staff Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati Alkenani, the joint forces commander, constantly communicated with the coalition forces commander to provide him the location of besieged civilians used by Da’ish as human shields. Having said that, the information helped us rescue our people in Anbar province not fortunate enough to leave before the Da’ish invasion. This issue delayed cleansing certain areas, but our forces managed to lift the siege and defeat the terrorists.

UNIPATH: What are the lessons of the Ramadi battle? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: As a deputy Iraqi Air Force commander, I noticed that this battle helped the Iraqi Army reorganize and restore the confidence of Soldiers, officers and security personnel. The Iraqi Army restored its prestige, reputation and self-respect. The harmony among the directorate of intelligence, ground forces, Air Force, and counterterrorism forces in terms of information exchange and the constant coordination is a source of pride. After the loss of Mosul, the Army’s confidence declined, but today I sense unbelievable enthusiasm among Soldiers, officers and commanders who participated in the Ramadi battle.

I’d like to point to the characteristic role of Army air fighters in this battle, in which Staff Lt. Gen. Hamid al-Maliki, a pilot, spent the night supervising the operation’s progress, ensuring execution of mission assigned for Army air fighters and making sure pilots returned safely. The physical presence of the commander in the operations room helped raise confidence and ensured coordination and the execution at the leadership level, where there was a rapid response from Army air fighters to transport ammunition, food and ground forces and provide protection for combat units. Overall, this is the first time I observed all commanders and tribesmen working as one team. That produced this major victory. Lt. Gen. Rasheed Flaih, the Popular Mobilization Forces commander, participated in providing five regiments of tribesmen and local police forces. Such regiments managed to occupy the land after liberation, established law and order and prevented sleeper cells from attacking the Army in the rear.

UNIPATH: Describe the role of morale in more detail.

LT. GEN. FALAH: If we speak of the family level, morale always comes from the father. So if the father — or the commander in military terms — demonstrates low self-esteem, the rest of the family suffers likewise. Hesitancy and incompetence among some officers caused the military setbacks that started in Mosul and ended in Ramadi. This drew the attention of the military leadership, who corrected the situation by reassigning some officers, dismissing others and choosing highly skilled efficient officers for new missions.

Additionally, we started guerrilla war training using intensive modern courses that had never been included in Iraqi Army doctrines in the past. Staff Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati Alkenani selected the units in the Ramadi liberation and provided young fighters who had just completed guerrilla training conducted by coalition forces. That created highly professional and well-coordinated operations. We were in the joint forces operations room watching the battle live and observed combat forces’ quality and performance. I wished someone had videotaped the moment the Iraqi flag was planted on the roof of the Ramadi provincial building and the joy on commanders’ faces. Even the coalition command announced its satisfaction with Iraqi forces’ performance. Soldiers have very high morale, and enthusiasm among officers and commanders has grown, enabling them to resume progress in cleansing other areas of Iraq.

UNIPATH: Does this also mean that Da’ish’s morale
is collapsing in Mosul and other places after its
defeat in Ramadi? 

LT. GEN. FALAH: Definitely. In previous battles in Tikrit and Baiji, the number of Da’ish dead was relatively low compared to the number who escaped. But in Anbar, our forces were able to kill the majority of the terrorists entrenched in the vicinity. In this battle, Iraqi and coalition forces engulfed Da’ish members from all directions without giving to them any opening for escape.

UNIPATH: How did civilians receive the liberation forces?

LT. GEN. FALAH: I recall a situation that took place during my visit to al-Habbaniya to check the condition of evacuated civilians, and I was with Staff Lt. Gen. Alkenani and Staff Lt. Gen. Hamid al-Maliki. I’ve seen civilians hugging Soldiers and officers and asking them to keep women and children in safe places and let men join the fight. This never existed in the previous battles, when trust between the Army and civilians was at its lowest level. However, we noticed unity between the Army and civilians in liberated areas where all people are raising the Iraqi flag. This is the first time, after the Anbar setback, that people were proud of the Army that restored its old glory and defeated Da’ish and restored people’s dignity and freedom. They adopted the Army as their own.

UNIPATH: What is Ramadi battle’s strategic significance?

LT. GEN. FALAH: Its location and population density give Anbar province strategic significance. The province is surrounded by three countries — Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia — and adjoins many other Iraqi provinces, so Anbar’s liberation from Da’ish means we secure borders and protect the security of neighboring countries and interrupt supplies for terrorists who used the Anbar-Syria route. At this point, Da’ish has been stranded and has become unable to secure a supply route for its members. We blocked all escape routes as well. We hope 2016 will be a year of continuous victories for our forces, the year our people prosper, and the year terrorism is defeated in Iraq and the entire region. We hope to see Unipath and U.S. Central Command personnel in Iraq to observe our victories!  F