Iraqi state media announced the launch of an operation on Tuesday to retake the strategic city of Ramadi from jihadis. The move is aimed as much at allaying international and domestic worries about the ability of its much-criticised military to wrest back control of territory. No official announcement was made from either the office of prime minister Haider al-Abadi or the ministry of defence. Instead, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a volunteer armed division led by Shia militias, heralded the start of the campaign to retake what is the capital of Anbar province from the Islamic State of Iraqi and the Levant, the group known as Isis.