[28] Also, during an Iraqi government counter-offensive, they discovered 25 dead men on the eastern edge of Ramadi from the Albu Fahd tribe, killed by ISIL.

[30] On November 24, ISIL was reportedly 150 m away from the city center, and government forces were reinforced with weapons from 5 planes that arrived in government-held areas of Ramadi.

[39] Sporadic fighting continued, and an Iraqi lawmaker warned that ISIL was assembling a large number of fighters for an all-out attack on Ramadi, after a major assault on the government complex the day before.

35 members of Albu Nimr tribe were captured by ISIL after battles against the radical militant group in al-Mahboubiya near Hīt.

Police forces, backed by few members of government-paid Sunni tribal fighters, tried to prevent the militants from crossing the sand barrier surrounding the town, but were overwhelmed when sleeper cells from inside opened fire on them, according to officials.

Elsewhere in the province, ISIL militants executed at least 21 Sunni tribal fighters on Friday after capturing them near al-Baghdadi town on Wednesday, local officials and tribesmen said on Saturday.

[citation needed] A hospital in Ramadi said that it received the bodies of many small children after they were killed by ISIL, while trying to escape from Al-Wafa.

[48] On January 9, 2015, in support of ground units, two RCAF CF-18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIL transport truck carrying an armored personnel carrier near Ramadi.

The car bombs killed 10 people and wounded 30,[52] but Iraqi government forces repelled the attack by shooting at the trucks before they could detonate their explosives.

[53] On April 5, RAF Tornado GR4's provided air support to Iraqi military units near Ramadi which had come under fire from ISIL.

[58] On 14 May 2015, ISIL launched an assault on the city named as Battle of Abu Muhannad As-Sweidāwi using armored bulldozers and the use of 10 suicide bombers (driving captured Humvees packed with explosives) to burst through the main gate, resulting in the capture of the police headquarters, government buildings and the Ramadi Great Mosque.

[59] On 15 May, an RAF Reaper among other coalition aircraft that came to the assistance of the Iraqi security forces and it was able to destroy a terrorist position with a Hellfire missile.

[61] Despite official claims, ISIS still appeared to be advancing, unhindered by US-led Coalition airstrikes, and ultimately consolidated full control over the last government-controlled neighborhood of "Mal'ab", south of Ramadi on 17 May.

[16][64] According to a report by current and former American officials, ISIL fighters used a sandstorm to help seize a critical military advantage during the early hours of the terrorist group's attack on Ramadi.

ISIL fighters used the time to carry out a series of car bombings, followed by a wave of ground attacks in and around the city that eventually overwhelmed the Iraqi forces.

[68] The following day, Iraqi government forces launched a counterattack, and reportedly recaptured the Husaybah's police station[69] and retook the town from ISIL control.

[70] On 24 May, United States Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter criticised the Iraqi forces, saying that they showed no will to fight against ISIL during the battle and withdrew, despite outnumbering them.

[72] The next day, a spokesman for Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq said that Carter had been given "incorrect information" following his criticism of its security forces over the fall of Ramadi.

He also said that the Iraqi government believed the fall of Ramadi was due to mismanagement and poor planning by some senior military commanders in charge.

On 18 June 2015, British army's brigadier Christopher Ghiks blamed the loss of Ramadi on the Anbar Operations commander who ordered an unnecessary withdrawal from the city.

He said the operation would see government troops and militiamen move southwards from Salahuddin province and seek to cut off ISIL militants in Ramadi.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticised that the Shiite militias were leading the fight and said that Iraq needed to do more to hold up its deal of creating a more inclusive government, which was France's precondition for joining the airstrike campaign.

The militants were able to bring supplies into Ramadi through some routes from the west since the Iraqi forces were largely at the east and south of the city.

[84] On 30 May 2015, Iraqi forces retook an area west of Ramadi as they pressed their operation aimed at sealing off the ISIL fighters in the city.

The Iraqi army and the Hashed al-Shaabi retook the Anbar traffic police building in the 5K area west of Ramadi after a fight with ISIL.

The security forces tightened their stranglehold on Ramadi, from the traffic police building to the west, from the university to the south and from the other sides too.

Ordnance disposal teams were removing roadside bombs and checking buildings for booby traps in reconquered positions on the outskirts of Ramadi.

[88] On the same day, the Iraqi Prime Minister ordered more air support and weapons to tribal fighters combating ISIL.

Spokesman Alistair Baskey told AFP that some of the measures might include accelerating the training and equipping of local tribes and supporting an Iraqi-led operation to retake Ramadi.

[67] On 20 May 2015, the US government announced that it would provide the Iraqi forces with 1,000 AT-4 systems especially in order to be able to combat against massive suicide car bombings by ISIL like the ones in Ramadi.