Tribal leaders in Anbar have formed the first military council for tribal fighters in the province in a bid to unify efforts against the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL).

The new council comprises over 5,000 fighters from across Anbar who will fight ISIL under the command of tribal leaders who have been battling terrorist groups in the province since 2006, said Ibrahim al-Fahdawi, one of the council's founders and head of the security committee in the Khalidiya District Council.

The military council’s formation was announced at an August 29th conference in Ramadi attended by a large number of tribal leaders and Tribal Mobilisation Forces (TMF) commanders.

"The objective of the newly announced force is to fight terrorism and unify the internal discourse in the province around fighting and eradicating the terrorist ISIL group," al-Fahdawi told Diyaruna.

The council was formed with the support of the federal and local governments, he said, and in full co-ordination with security forces in the province.

It is not affiliated with any "political or partisan organisation and has no links to any external or regional entity", he added.

Holding territory

Sheikh Falah Qaraghouli, a commander in the new council and TMF commander in western Anbar, said the primary goal of the new formation is to hold territory and provide reassurance to citizens after their towns are liberated from ISIL.

"Most government forces liberating territory, such as the Iraqi Army and Counter-Terrorism Agency forces, will leave the province after its liberation, and there must be a security force that holds territory that is trusted by the street," he said.

"The military council came to assume this task in collaboration and co-ordination with local police forces in Anbar," he told Diyaruna.

The council’s forces will be deployed across the entire province, starting from Fallujah in the east to al-Rutba in the west, Qaraghouli said.

They will be spread over several units, each comprising about 40 tribal fighters, he said.

The forces will receive weapons and military equipment from the federal government, he added.

"The fighters will support Iraqi forces and units of the 16th division in the battle to liberate the towns of western Anbar, including al-Qaim, Anah and Rawa, as well as the islands of Ramadi and Heet," said Qaraghouli.

Anbar's local government supports any military or security formation in the province "as long as it operates in accordance with the law and the constitution and under the umbrella of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Haider al-Abadi", said provincial council member Taha Abdul-Ghani.

"The province is currently locked in a fierce war against ISIL, one of the most ferocious terrorist forces in the world," he told Diyaruna. "Today [Anbar] needs concerted efforts by all to fully eradicate this cancerous tumor."