CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedemen reported that ISIS terrorists had surrounded an Iraqi air base located “about 110 miles west of Baghdad,” which is described as “one of the biggest bases” in the Anbar province and were expected to launch an attack against it on Tuesday’s “CNN Newsroom.”
Wedemen said that “police sources” told him that “one of the biggest bases [the Ayn al-Asad Airbase] in Anbar province is now surrounded by ISIS fighters, and the people on the base are expecting an attack within the coming hours on that base. We understand that there are Iraqi soldiers who have already fled the base.”
“We were getting reports from several hours [ago] that some of the soldiers had left, shedding their uniforms, leaving their weapons behind. Which is really part of the pattern we’ve seen going back to June, when the Iraqi Army fled in the face of a much smaller force … so it seems yet another disaster for the Iraqi Army in Anbar province, which at this point, is controlled, at least 80 percent by ISIS if not more” he added.
Yesterday, Iraqi forces withdrew from a nearby base in Heet, and moved to the Asad Airbase.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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