May 26--REPORTING FROM BEIRUT -- A major government offensive to recapture the city of Ramadi from Islamic State militants has begun, Iraq's official media reported Tuesday.
State-run Al Iraqiyah TV said "wide ranging" operations had started to "liberate" the city about 60 miles west of Baghdad.
Whether the counteroffensive had kicked off in earnest remained unclear. The state media often heralds government actions and victories that later prove to be illusory.
Iraqi forces have been massing for days outside Ramadi in preparation for an assault to retake the capital of Anbar province, which was captured last week by Islamic State fighters.
The loss of Ramadi was a major embarrassment for the government of Prime Minister Haidar Abadi. Iraqi forces in Humvees were seen in video images driving away from the city at full speed as the militants approached.
The Iraqi prime minister rejected recent comments from U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter that the Iraqi defenders of Ramadi had lost their will to fight. In an interview aired Monday on the BBC, Abadi vowed to take back Ramadi within days.
Other analysts have cautioned that the operation could take weeks or months. Urban warfare can be a challenging struggle fought street by street, and Islamic State has shown itself adept at slowing down attackers with strategically placed snipers and booby traps.
Participating in the promised offensive will be regular Iraqi forces and mainly Shiite Muslim militias. The Shiites are considered the most potent fighters on the government side. However, there is considerable concern that their large-scale deployment could inflame sectarian tensions in Anbar province, where the population is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.
The news of the offensive on Ramadi was confirmed by Ahmad Assadi, spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Units, the formal name of the mostly Shiite militias that have aided the Iraqi government.
"The Popular Mobilization Forces, in all their different factions, are coordinating their operations with the general command of the armed forces to launch attacks and inflict the greatest losses on the enemy forces," the spokesman said in a video broadcast of the news conference Tuesday.
The spokesman predicted that Ramadi would soon be surrounded on three sides by pro-government forces, paving the way for what he called "the great operation to liberate Anbar province."
There was no need for airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, Assadi said, adding that it was the Iraqi military command's decision to request U.S. air power or not.
U.S. officials have been hesitant to coordinate airstrikes in conjunction with the Shiite fighters, some of whom are allied with Iran.
Ramadi once had a population of almost 500,000, though years of conflict have led many residents to flee. Tens of thousands of civilians have escaped since Islamic State militants overran the city last week.
Anbar province was a hotbed of Sunni insurgents fighting American forces following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that led to the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. Hundreds of American troops were killed or injured in the area before U.S. forces pulled out in 2011.
Bulos is a special correspondent.
UPDATE
8:05 a.m.: This story has been updated throughout with additional details and statements about the reported offensive.
1:01 a.m.: This story was updated to include additional background and information about Islamic militants in Iraq.
This story first published at 12:28 a.m.
