soldiers pulling out as the city fell. large groups of civilians fled ramadi as last troops pulled out as you see here. iraqi officials estimate 500 people died in the final clashes before city fell. want to get more on this and the very latest on the isis advance. let s turn to ian lee he joins us live from cairo. ian we have been talking about the huge victory for isis. clearly a massive set back for iraq and the u.s. we have seen the retreating iraqi forces there. but talk to us about how isis was able to take control of ramadi. well, rosemary, the battle for ramadi has been taking place for quite some time. since last june, actually. and it has been some very fierce fighting as we have seen. 500 people have been killed during the last clashes. and so, it was a very difficult
weakening since october. until this most recent capture of ramadi, they weren t able to keep and hold territory. we don t know if they will hold ra madd ramadi. losing sa plupply lines. and routes they depend on. and losing large numbers of foreign fighters they depend on. at the same time. a week of isis is dangerous. fall of ramadi is a powerful testament to that as well as the awful revenge killings we are seeing. sobering assessment there. and senior fellfellow, thank yor your inseeing tight today from a five day humanitarian cease-fire over in yemen. saudi-led air strikes have resumed. at least four districts in aden have been hit. the cease-fire was mostly observed. but there were sporadic clashes.
given the proximity to baghdad as you said. certainly seems like it will be one of the first targets. given that, since the the, awakening or the movement began in ramadi, a relatively new conquest. difficult for yes to hold it. what do you make of the prime minister s strategy now to allow militias to fight in this predominantly sunni city. that itself comes with risks. it certainly comes with risks. right now given they re in a terrible situation. it makes sense to bring shiaa militias in, though it is going to be seen as a force that isn t of the local population. what should have been done months ago, the iraqi government or if the iraqi government wouldn t do it. the united states. should have made sure the sunni tribes in the ramadi area were getting arms, ammunition, getting the kind of supplies they would need to hold out against the siege, isis imposed
compound. so even though ramadi has fallen. there are other cities in anbar that are still standing and we believe that the next few days are going to see victories against, against as for reinforcements come in. and more coordination with the international coalition. in reality how likely is it you will see victory. among the forces that were fleeing the scene there, in ramadi, were elite forces. so if elite forces don t feel they re capable to go up against isis, then who is on the ground. there is a lot of talk here among iraqi officials including central government to determine exactly what happened with the forces that you see retreating. and i think we will, learn more about who gave the orders and
landing in an air force base in hawaii sunday. 21 other marines on board were take tune hospitals to be checked out and treated the marine corps said the incident happened during routine training. the investigation is now under way. we want to return now to our lead story, the fall of ramadi to isis fighters in iraq. ramadi of course the capital of iraq s anbar province. we are joined now by skype by mohamed hamar, an adviser to anbar s governor. thank you, sir, for talking with us. can we get an idea. do you know what is happening in ramadi right now on the ground and what is happening to those people who weren t able to get out in time? and also to any of the soldiers who were captured by isis? isis have taken over most of the city. so the city symbolically has fallen into the hand of isis. they have taken over the government compound which has