The militants conquered much of the city of al-Baghdadi, in the western part of the country. According to the Iraqi government, ninety percent of al-Baghdadi district fell under the control of insurgents. The militants attacked the city from two directions before advancing towards the interior.
A spokesman for the Department of Defense confirmed to Fox News that "heavy fighting" took place in that area a few hours ago, not confirming nor denying the fall of the city.
There was no direct attack on Al Asad airport - confirmed by the Pentagon - even though an "ineffective indirect fire near the base" was found.
However, according to Reuters, a group of rebels attacked the heavily armored base that was probably protected by an air barrage that was probably the only one in Iraq, but failed to overcome the defensive perimeter.
320 soldiers of the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force are deployed in Al Asad air base to train the Seventh Iraqi Infantry Division.
The structure is located less than 13 minutes from the city conquered by the fundamentalists of ISIS.
Even if the ISIS militants really wanted to attack an American base, in this case that of Al Asad, the company would be more difficult than expected.
The base is flown over h24 by armed drones that, thanks to their range of action, monitor all the possible movements towards the airport.
We are not talking about an Iraqi police station, but a heavily armored base that houses a large contingent of Marines.
The ISIS, in order to hope only to cause some damage to the structure, should accumulate a large number of vehicles and combatants: something that would make them "vulnerable" to American air strikes.
Al Asad is inside the emergency screen of A-10, F-15, F-16 and F-18 and flying gunboats. A dozen AH-1 Super Cobra attack helicopters are located on the same base. Finally, without considering the light armored (Mrap) and heavy armored vehicles inside the structure: among the latter, there are also twenty M1A1 Abrams.
The Marines deployed to Al Asad then, are not common soldiers: it is a standard formation ready to fight in totally self-sufficient crisis situations.
If the ISIS really tried to conquer the base, it would have to assemble a small army that would be bombarded with all the ammunition available to the US already at kilometers of distance from the perimeter of the airport.
The province of Anbar has long been a frequent area of fighting between fundamentalists and regular Iraqi troops.
A few weeks ago, the Pentagon confirmed that some mortar shells have fallen near the base, without causing damage to infrastructure or soldiers.
To date, all attacks against the Al Asad base have been defined as "ineffective".
Franco Iacch
(photo: US DoD)
