As Iraqi troops, backed by Iranian artillery and Shi’ite militias, launch a major invasion of the city of Tikrit, ISIS is seeking to emphasize their ability to continue attacks across the nation even amid a siege, hitting the city of Ramadi hard today.
The contested Anbar capital, Ramadi has been partly under ISIS control for over a year now, Today, they launched 21 car bomb attacks across the city, wounding scores of security officials.
Reports out of Iraq are that one of the car bombings was carried out by an 18-year-old convert from Australia, who dropped out of school last year and went to join ISIS.
The exact death toll of the Ramadi attacks is unclear, with officials only confirming five deaths. Generally speaking, the tolls in strikes against security forces are hotly contested, and Iraqi security officials try to under report deaths.