IS made significant advances Tuesday in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province in Iraq. On Friday, militants attacked the city from all sides using heavy artillery and car bombs[1]. On the north side that borders the Euphrates River, militants used boats and rafts to cross into the city. Their advance was stopped to the north and west, but the battle raged on to the east.

By Monday, militants were 300 meters from the city's central headquarter complex that contains a prison, police headquarters, intelligence services, and the Anbar Council[2]. Early in the day Tuesday, IS advanced to within 20 meters of city headquarters, with the Anbar Council announcing that the city will fall in 24 hours without the intervention of nearby Iraqi forces outside Hit and in al-Assad airbase[3].

At approximately 6:00 GMT, a reporter from Al Jazeera announced that IS had seized a building adjacent to the headquarter complex[4]. Reliable sources on Twitter also claim that IS shot down a helicopter to the east of the city, with intense aerial bombardments raining down on the militants [5][6]. An hour later, a pro-IS Twitter issued an unconfirmed report that IS now controls the Director of Education and Civil Defense buildings in the center of Ramadi[7].

Several sources on Twitter, some reliable, have claimed that Iraqi forces are fleeing the city. However, this cannot be verified at this time. New information will be posted regularly as it becomes available.

The Pentagon agreed to $24.1M in funding to arm defenders in Anbar Province on Sunday. The arms will include AK 47's, RPGs, and mortar rounds[8]. However, it remains unclear whether these resources have been deployed.

A UN census put Ramadi's population at approximately 500,000 in 2004. Some have fled, but the vast majority of the city's population is Sunni.

IS posted some pictures of the assault, a few have been omitted because they are questionable or irrelevant:






















Sources:
[1] http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/11/24/3991929/islamic-state-toughens-tactics.html
[3] http://anbardaily.blogspot.com/
[2] http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/23/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu5ir6Ejzbg
[5] https://twitter.com/RamiAlLolah/status/537309381378211840
[6] https://twitter.com/RamiAlLolah/status/537319465256751104
[7] https://twitter.com/ifthimatrix
[8] http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/23/U-S-plans-to-arm-Iraq-s-Anbar-tribesmen-.html