How Iraqi Forces Drove ISIS from Ramadi

It was not easy. More than 40 special forces troops and several hundred regular Iraqi army soldiers were killed in this latest battle for Ramadi. Special forces commanders say they killed around 130 ISIS fighters in the city and that about 180 civilians were killed in retaking the city—most by ISIS snipers and explosives laid by the group. As Iraqi troops approached the city late last year, ISIS detonated trucks packed with tons of explosives on bridges across the Euphrates River to keep the troops from advancing. Digging in for a fight, the militants laid explosives throughout the center of the city, connecting bombs to the wiring of houses and laying trip wire under carpets. “Iraqis have a lot of experience in war, but we’ve never seen these methods of fighting,” says Aridhi, adding that almost all the buildings, even hospitals, were rigged with improvised explosive devices.