Iraq forces retake large part of Ramadi city from IS

The Iraqi Cabinet said in a statement that their forces had managed to recapture the Anbar Operations command center inside the city of Ramadi.

Retaking the Al-Tameem area from IS is a significant breakthrough for Iraqi forces, which have been fighting for months to secure territory around Ramadi, a major city west of Baghdad and the capital of the vast Anbar province.

Iraqi forces were working on December 8 to clear bombs planted by the militants in the Al-Tameem area.

The operation, supported by USA airstrikes, had been developed for weeks. Videos and photographs obtained by International Business Times show an Iraqi rapid reaction force dubbed “Roger” – with tanks and weapons seized in eastern Ramadi – on the outskirts of the city.

“Now we are in the centre”, said Major General Ismail al-Mahlawi, who leads the Anbar command, speaking by phone from the army headquarters in the city. The loss of Sinjar and other areas in Anbar would deprive militants from most of their communications with Daesh-controlled areas in neighboring Syria.

Iraqi anti-terrorism forces preparing to mount a military operation to regain control of the western suburbs of Ramadi last month.

IS fighters “had no choice except to surrender or fight and they were completely destroyed”, Noman said.

With IS still in control of the central part of Ramadi, Iraqi forces now need to coordinate efforts in the north and newly-reclaimed southwest to attack the remaining militants. On Monday, coalition aircraft targeted IS fighting positions, supplies and vehicles, as well as a mortar system, according to a statement on the air strikes.

“We are using mobile military bridges to cross the Euphrates to the city centre from the north and the west as the main bridges have been destroyed in the intense battles with the terrorists”, the source added.

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Symbolic importance Besides its strategic significance, Ramadi – some 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Baghdad within the Sunni heartland – has symbolic importance in Iraq’s fight against ISIS.