麻豆社

The fall of Ramadi to Islamic State fighters was due to a lack of US and coalition support for Iraqi troops on the ground, says a journalist embedded with Iraqi special forces in the city before it was taken.

The US says Iraqi soldiers defending Ramadi were at fault for showing 鈥渘o will to fight鈥�.

But Ayman Oghanna, who left Ramadi just before it was overrun by IS last week, said the city's fall instead represented a defeat for American strategy in Iraq.

Ramadi had been held for 14 months by one unit 鈥� the so-called Golden Division - which became exhausted before the most recent offensive, he said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you can fault their leadership,鈥� said Mr Oghanna.

鈥淭hey are exhausted 鈥� you can鈥檛 drive a Lamborghini off-road for a week and expect it to work like a special elite car.鈥�