Biker Brawl In Texas Leads To Nine Deaths; Ramadi Has Fallen, What Next For Iraqi Security Forces?
MAX FOSTER, HOST: Ramadi in ruins, thousands flee for safety after ISIS scores a big military victory in a key Iraqi city. Hello, I'm Max Foster in London. Tonight, we'll look at the plan to recapture the capital of Anbar Province. Also ahead, a bloody gun fight between rival biker gangs in Texas kills nine. We'll tell you what you need to know about the gangs at the center of it. And later, the EU moves closer to taking military action against human traffickers in Libya. We'll ask a member of the European parliament whether it goes far enough.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World.</s>FOSTER: Now that they control Ramadi, there are reports that ISIS militants are heading towards a nearby Iraqi military base where a counteroffensive is being planned. Ramadi is the provincial capital of Iraq's Anbar Province. This is a video posted a short time ago on YouTube purporting to show Ramadi since ISIS took over. It shows the city's government complex, its great mosque and militants roaming the streets as well. One of them attaches an ISIS flag at a roundabout in central Ramadi. Well, the fall of Ramadi comes after a prolonged offensive by the terror group using explosive laden bulldozers and other vehicles driven by suicide bombers. The Iraqi government says reinforcements are already on their way, but there are concerns this hour about what ISIS might do to residents of the city before those forces arrive, especially anyone seen as sympathetic or working for the government in Baghdad. Now Ramadi is just 110 kilometers west of Iraq's capital. The Habbaniyah base where that counter attack could come, sits between those two cities. For more on the situation on the ground, I'm joined by the Anbar Province spokesman Hikmat Sulaiman, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Can you confirm that ISIS controls the whole of Ramadi or are there still some Iraqi forces holding out there?</s>HIKMAT SULAIMAN, ANBAR PROVINCE SPOKESMAN: No. I can ensure that (inaudible) just control the whole of the city of Ramadi, which is between the two rivers.</s>FOSTER: How many people are left in the city that you might be concerned about with ISIS taking control?</s>SULAIMAN: Well, most of them we have been able -- managed to get a road for them to withdraw, but until now we have not quite (inaudible) on the name of the -- been able to withdraw from the city, but still we (inaudible) left tens of them.</s>FOSTER: At what point did you give up the fight? Was there a decision made at a particular point to withdraw?</s>SULAIMAN: No. First of all, at the beginning of the situation we've witnessed attacks on many fronts around the city, especially from the north one that comes from an area already occupied a few weeks ago, which is Al Faraj (ph). And the tribal fighters (inaudible) were able to stand against them, but when ISIL succeeded to reach the headquarters with (inaudible) very armed car bombs, then destroy the whole buildings around the governmental complex, then we (inaudible) leadership for all fronts around, but we -- which send troops to reinforce the situation over there. They controlled the situation. But sadly the next morning we witnessed unexpectable or un- understandable withdraw by the Golden Division and the entire forces from Ramadi, left (inaudible) with no help and no support.</s>FOSTER: Are there civilians left in the city, or did they manage to get out before the troops?</s>SULAIMAN: Well, a lot of them managed to get out, but yet we have a lot of civilians kept over there. And we have news that a lot of them were executed, especially the families of the policemen.</s>FOSTER: Can you confirm that Shia militia are on their way to support the Iraqi forces on any counter offensive, particularly around the Habbaniyah base, which I know you're still trying to defend?</s>SULAIMAN: Well, we were in a security meeting this morning at the NSA headquarters in Baghdad. And yet the decision has been taken by the prime minister. But each part of the militias, (inaudible) mobilization send their own explorers to see the situation in there and how to manage to collect their own troops in the base of Habbaniyah. Now we are in a plan to reach about 3,000 individuals to collect with the reinforcement coming from the Iraqi army there and to sit a plan armed to how to conjugate of those forces under one leadership and also in a plan to reliberate the Ramadi city.</s>FOSTER: OK, Hikmat Sulaiman, appreciate the time. Thank you very much indeed. Well, civilians are flooding out of Ramadi, according to our reports, prompting new fears of a humanitarian crisis there. Our Nick Paton Walsh has been following developments from Beirut. And Nick, first of all just describe the strategic importance of the city.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, it was the capital of Anbar Province. It's really a vital hub for so much of the populated areas to the west of Baghdad. And Anbar is one-third of Iraq's territory and also a key Sunni heartland. I think the hope amongst the Iraqi government was they would be able to force ISIS from that and somehow find amongst Sunni tries those who are willing to ally themselves and lessen some of the sectarian nature many feel the fighting in Iraq has had for quite some time. But that has not been the case. And I think stark what we heard in that Iraqi spokesperson's interview just then was how unexpected, quote, the departure of elite forces like the Golden Division were from Ramadi in just the past 24 hours. He also mentioned remarkably how families of the police were potentially being executed at this stage by ISIS. I think many are hoping that those reinforcements who will arrive will be able to amass and unite under the joint command he was talking about to perhaps retake that city, but it is at one stage it was home to nearly a million people perhaps as few as about 400,000, maybe even less now, many having fled remarkably. And the video you played earlier shows deserted streets, obviously many terrified for the violence that's been swirling around for the past days. But once Ramadi is fully in ISIS hands, and it seems like that is increasingly the case, they run the risk of having freer -- there are still a lot of Iraqi security forces, troops, on that route. But freer passage towards Baghdad. And previously that had been an issue for the Americans when they fought a war there. The freedom of movement through those Sunni heartlands -- Ramadi, Fallujah, into Abu Ghraib into the capital. So, vital strategic importance. The roads there that Ramadi is at the center of, plus also it does provide a hub close to the Syrian border where ISIS have a lot of freedom of movement as well that they could exploit. But, it's vital in the days ahead that the Iraqi security forces manage to get together enough numbers to perhaps begin to push in, but fighting to reclaim an urban area extraordinarily fraught. ISIS adequately versed in how to defend a city like that. And I think we could see very bloody days ahead, Max.</s>FOSTER: And what about the idea of Shia militia again going into what is a Sunni city, right?</s>WALSH: Yes. I think that is a key concern. So much of what had been hoped would be the campaign for Anbar would be about getting Sunni tribes to back the military and their work, but it looks like given the departure of the Iraqi security forces much of the work, as was the case for awhile in the northern city of Tikrit will fall to Shia militia, the track record of human rights, of atrocities in the battlefield deeply troubling. And I think many were concerned, in certainly newer circles that that will be a severe impediment for the coalition adding it muscle to this campaign. They managed to find some sort of resolution in Tikrit where the Shia militia stood back and then U.S. air power could clear the way for the Iraqi army. But the mess really that surrounded Ramadi, people will still be trying to unpick right now. Quite how did this months' long campaign to defend the city crumble so fast. It was well known that they may would need constant reinforcement, ammunition to keep that city in their hands. Its vital need was well recognized, too, by the Iraqi government even though American officials often tried to play it down. So, the autopsy, of course, vital, but most importantly right now trying to keep any remnants of that city in Iraqi government hands -- Max.</s>FOSTER: You mentioned the Americans. We had John Kerry, secretary of state, talking today briefly about this and he seemed quite bullish about managing to turn around the tide of the ISIS progression in the city and managing to, you know, suggesting that they could take it back relatively quickly. But is that realistic?</s>WALSH: Well, it's all I think part of -- bear in mind the U.S. is at war here in this campaign. It has special forces somewhere in the mix at times, advising, and it has planes on the ground. So, of course their rhetoric will be bullish. Of course they will say this is all part of the ebb and flow of battle. But I think anybody in the Pentagon recognizes the last 72 hours have radically redrawn the map of the fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. The narrative about how ISIS were on their back foot now as quite the reverse. And I think the U.S. had tried to suggest Anbar wasn't that strategically significant, and that was at a time when they were also trying to persuade the Iraqi government to head north towards Mosul rather than tackle Anbar first. But we're now dealing with a stark recognition that we could see a long stretch of territory to the west of Baghdad leading up to its outer circles in the hands of ISIS and Iraqi security forces. At this stage looking at limited in their power to try and reverse that trend -- Max.</s>FOSTER: OK, Nick, thank you very much indeed. We'll have more on the fighting in Ramadi later in the show. We'll look at what the government is doing to try to regain control of the city and the implications of sending in those Shia militia into a Sunni dominated Ramadi. And the Iranian defense minister arrives in Baghdad. What kind of role could Iran play in the fight against ISIS? That's in about 20 minutes from now. The Saudi-led coalition has resumed airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, meanwhile, now that a five-day humanitarian ceasefire is over. Three strikes targeted an airport in the southern port city of Aden on Monday afternoon, two local government officials tell CNN a Houthi fighter was killed. The United Nations convoy to Yemen had called for the ceasefire to be extended to allow more aid into the country. Shifting now to the U.S. state of Texas and what one veteran police officer describes as the most violent and gruesome crime scene he's ever dealt with. At least nine people were killed, and 17 were wounded, in a shootout involving rival biker gangs. The fight erupted inside a restaurant, then spilled into a parking lot where police were on standby having suspected trouble would break out. CNN's Nick Valencia is in Waco. He joins us now with more on exactly what happened. And this picture that's emerging about this fight, I mean it just seems so shocking for an area like that. But what more details have you had about it in the last few hours?</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly a bizarre scene here, Max. And not something that's unique to Waco, Texas -- biker gangs present all across the United States. Here, though, it really came to a head. A heavy police presence still, that crime tape also still up, the perimeter established around here, only media and local law enforcement officials allowed inside. We heard from police a little while ago. They say about 170 people were arrested as a result of yesterday's shootout. All of them will be charged with engaging and organized crime. Some will face capital murder charges.</s>SGT. PATRICK SWANTON WACO POLICE: These are very dangerous, hostile biker gangs that we are dealing with.</s>VALENCIA (voice-over): Erupting in broad daylight: close to 200 members of rival biker gangs broke out in a deadly fight Sunday. First, fists, chains, a club and knives, escalating into a fierce gun battle.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really, really scary. We didn't know if somebody was going to come back.</s>VALENCIA: One hundred miles south of Dallas in Waco, Texas, at a Twin Peaks restaurant, as many as five criminal motorcycle gangs started fighting over a parking issue, according to police. You can see some of the groups names, like The Cossacks, on the back of their jackets. The gang meet-up, known to police for weeks, members of the SWAT team were already monitoring the scene when the brutal fight began.</s>SWANTON: We were in marked cars. They knew we were here. It matters naught to them. That tells you the kind of level of people that we're dealing with.</s>VALENCIA: Police also exchanging fire with the bikers. The parking lot filling fast with law enforcement officials to secure the scene. At least nine are now dead and nearly 20 more injured. Some customers and employees taking cover in the restaurant's freezer.</s>SWANTON: There were a lot of people. A lot of innocent people could have been injured today.</s>VALENCIA: Police say they recovered more than 100 weapons at the scene, a frightening indication that this may not be the end to the deadly rivalry.</s>SWANTON: We have been getting reports throughout the day that bikers throughout the state are headed this way.</s>VALENCIA: While police say there is no threat to the public, there is concern, though, for still more violence to come. Police tell me that there are credible threats against local law enforcement officials, anyone really in a uniform from other biker gangs who want to sort of finish the job here. People still very tense in this area. Twin Peaks, for what it's worth, behind me this restaurant, has been closed for the next seven days. The strip mall as well will be closed to the public -- Max.</s>FOSTER: OK. Nick, thank you very much indeed for bringing us that from Waco. Still to come tonight, we turn a spotlight on the dark underworld of biker gangs. An expert will tell us about the various illegal enterprises that keep them running. And creeping dangerously close to Baghdad, ISIS militants reportedly advance past Ramadi now. How Iraqi and U.S. forces hope to stop them from reaching the capital.