BAGHDAD — The Daesh (the so-called IS) terrorist group killed at least 500 people — both civilians and Iraqi soldiers — and forced 8,000 to flee their homes as it captured the city of Ramadi, a provincial official said Monday. The US-led coalition against Daesh conducted 19 airstrikes in the vicinity of the Iraqi city of Ramadi over the past 72 hours, a spokesman for the coalition said on Monday. "The Coalition increased its support in Ramadi today, in order to fulfill all requests of the Iraqi security forces," said the spokesman. The strikes targeted Daesh fighting positions, armored and technical vehicles, and buildings they control. Bodies, some burned, littered the streets as local officials reported the militants carried out mass killings of Iraqi security forces and civilians. Online video showed Humvees, trucks and other equipment speeding out of Ramadi, with soldiers gripping onto their sides. “We do not have an accurate count yet,” said an Anbar spokesman, Muhannad Haimour. “We estimate that 500 people have been killed, both civilians and military, and approximately 8,000 have fled the city.” The estimates are for the past three days, since Friday, when the battle for the city reached its final stages. The 8,000 figure is in addition to the enormous exodus in April, Haimour said, when the UN said as many as 114,000 residents fled from Ramadi and surrounding villages at the height of the violence. Local officials have said that Daesh carried out mass killings of Iraqi security forces and civilians. With defeat looming, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi had ordered security forces not to abandon their posts across Anbar, apparently fearing the extremists could capture the entire desert region that saw intense fighting after the 2003 US-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he remained confident about the fight against the Daesh terrorist group, despite the setbacks like the loss of Ramadi. Kerry, traveling through South Korea, said that he's long said the fight against the militant group would be a long one, and that it would be tough in the Anbar province of western Iraq where Iraqi security forces are not built up. — Agencies
