ISIS Claims Victory Close To Baghdad

05:24

May 18, 2015

A picture taken on March 11, 2015 shows smoke billowing after the building of the Anbar Governorate was hit by a mortar shell in the Hosh district of Ramadi as the Islamic State jihadist group launched a coordinated attack on government-held areas of the western Iraqi city, involving seven almost simultaneous suicide car bombs, police said. (Azhar Shallal/AFP/Getty Images)

Militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State routed Iraqi forces in the city of Ramadi yesterday, a stunning defeat in a city just 70 miles from the capital Baghdad.

The ISIS victory came despite airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. And Iraq's government and Shiite militias backed by Iran are vowing to mount a counteroffensive to reclaim the capital of the overwhelmingly Sunni Anbar Province.

Mitchell Prothero has been covering the story for McClatchy Newspapers and joins Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson with details.

Guest

Mitchell Prothero, Iraq bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. He tweets @mitchprothero.

This segment aired on May 18, 2015.