At least 60,000 Shiites protecting Baghdad against ISIL
Up to 60,000 Shiite militiamen are deployed in the Iraqi capital to protect the city from ISIL, as the extremists are stepping up their offensive, the Erbil-based Rudaw reports, according to Sputnik.
"Experts believe sending Shiite fighters into Ramadi puts Baghdad at major risk, but it is not true because up to 60,000 fighters of Hashd al-Shaabi [Shiite Popular Mobilization Units] are inside Baghdad now," the online newspaper quotes the Security Committee of Baghdad Provincial Council as saying in a Tuesday statement.
According to the committee, only five percent of Shiite forces have been sent to Ramadi, a city in central Iraq captured by ISIL on Sunday.
"Only five percent of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces have been sent to Ramadi, the other 95 percent is still in Baghdad to protect the city's security and stability," Rudaw quoted the security committee as saying in its statement.