Iraq retakes IS-held town of Rutba: U.S. officials

PanARMENIAN.Net - Bolstered by U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi ground forces have recaptured the southwestern town of Rutba after Islamic State fighters who had occupied the town for nearly two years fled or put up only light resistance, U.S. military officers said Friday, May 20, according to the Associated Press.

Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad, told reporters Friday that it was an important victory for the Iraqi security forces, even though Rutba is a small town.

MacFarland said that taking Rutba from IS will allow the reopening of the main road from Amman to Baghdad, which he said is a significant economic lifeline for Iraq.

"Although it's a small town, it's an important success for the Iraqi security forces," he said, according to AP.

Another U.S. officer, Marine Brig. Gen. Bill Mullen, said in a separate interview that the decisive action in Rutba was U.S. airstrikes outside the town that seemed to persuade the Islamic State fighters to flee rather than put up substantial resistance. He said there were an estimated "couple of hundred" IS fighters in Rutba prior to the Iraqi assault and that by the time the Iraqis arrived all but about 30 had fled north to the city of al-Qaim or across the border into Syria.

Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad, said the Iraqis had sent about 1,000 troops to Rutba. They were a combination of federal police, Sunni tribal fighters, border security forces and members of the Counter-Terrorism Force.

Warren said the Islamic State had used Rutba as a staging area for weaponry and foreign fighters flowing into Iraq, AP says.

Beyond the recapturing of Rutba, U.S. officials were focused mainly on preparing Iraqi security forces for an assault on Mosul, which is the Islamic State's main stronghold in Iraq.