ONLYONAP US-led coalition commanders leading push against IS remnants

(9 Nov 2017) As the last Islamic State (IS) group holdouts crumble, commanders of the US-led coalition in the fight against the group say continued close support will be needed in western Anbar to keep the peace. U.S. Marines Col. Seth W. B. Folsom, commander of Task Force Lion, on Wednesday described "the environment here in Al Anbar" as "very resource-constrained". He oversaw the coalition's support of a recent Iraqi fight against the extremists in the border town of Qaim some 320 kilometres (200 miles) west of Baghdad. The Qaim victory was supported by a couple of hundred U.S. marines from the coalition's newest outpost in a dusty corner of western Iraq just some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border with Syria. Small coalition outposts like this one just tens of kilometres from the front have become more common over the past year of the fight against IS. Coalition officials say their presence away from highly fortified bases and closer to the fight is responsible for recent swift gains against the extremists. Daily convoys leave from al-Asad air base to the Qaim outpost carrying water, food, ammunition and building supplies. The route is long and tedious. Trucks and armoured personnel carriers travel along desert roads for the seven hour journey as the roadway along the Euphrates has not yet been cleared of IS-laid explosives. Storms that whip the powder-fine sand reduce visibility to just a few metres and halt traffic for hours. In other instances insufficient Iraqi military escorts - required for ground travel under Iraqi law as the U.S. forces are technically advisers - leave convoys stuck between checkpoints. But despite the resupply efforts, the steadily growing numbers of coalition troops are beginning to stretch the capacity of western Anbar's bases. Notices warning of water shortages hang in the bathrooms and showers at al-Asad. At Qaim, marines have begun rationing drinking water. Folsom said he hoped within the next year Iraqi forces would be able to hold the western edge of Anbar on their own and coalition forces can fall back to al-Asad air base. "There is a lot of work that the Iraqi government and the ISF (Iraqi security forces) and the local leaders here need to do together to chart a way forward, one that is sustainable and works for everybody." You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3df19fd273bb71b514b35257d02fe6dc Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork