Members of the Iraqi army and Shi'ite fighters launch a mortar toward Islamic State militants outskirt the city of Falluja, Iraq May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer
BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslim militiamen and Iraqi army forces launched a counter-offensive against Islamic State insurgents near Ramadi on Saturday, a militia spokesman said, aiming to reverse potentially devastating gains by the jihadi militants.
The fall of Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, to Islamic State on May 17 could be a shattering blow to Baghdad's weak central government. The Sunni Muslim jihadis now control most of Anbar and could threaten the western approaches to Baghdad, or even surge south into Iraq's Shi’ite heartland.
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