French President Francois Hollande congratulated Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on his army’s liberation of Ramadi from Islamic State (ISIS) forces on Monday, December 28, saying it was “a major step” in the conflict.
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Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes drove Islamic State militants out of the center of Ramadi on Monday and seized the main government complex there, according to military officials, who said insurgents are still dug into pockets of the city west of Baghdad.
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The former government headquarters in Ramadi was the epicentre of the fighting but Iraqi forces did not rush in when ISIS pulled out.
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“The clearance of the government center is a significant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work by the Iraqi Army, the Counter Terrorism Service, the Iraqi Air Force, local and federal police and tribal fighters”, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren on Monday.
The victory over Ramadi is the first major triumph for the U.S.-trained force since the city was captured by IS militants in May.
After encircling Ramadi for weeks, Iraqi forces launched an assault to retake it last week and made a final push to seize the central administration complex on Sunday.
The military said more was needed to completely clear the city from the extremist group.
If the recapture of Ramadi is confirmed, it will be the first major city seized from ISIL by Iraq’s military, which in past battles against the armed group had operated mainly in a supporting role alongside Iran-backed Shia militias.
The militias were held back from the battlefield in Ramadi this time to avoid antagonising the mainly Sunni population.
Iraqi military commanders confirmed they had won back control of Ramadi – the capital of Anbar – which was overrun by spineless Islamist militants in May in an embarrassing reverse for Baghdad.
“This remains a long fight but the coalition’s strategy is succeeding”.
The fightback has often been laborious and poisoned by political wrangling, but Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said a week ago that Iraqi forces had reclaimed half of the territory nationwide lost to IS past year.
Ramadi lies about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad and is the capital of Anbar, which is Iraq’s largest province and borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Also, military sources told Al Jazeera reports in Iraq said that government troops now controlled at least 60 percent of the city as Islamic State group fighters were resisting the offensive with suicide bombings, booby traps and snipers.
After overrunning Ramadi, Islamic State destroyed all the bridges around the city. It has declared a self-styled “caliphate”.
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The so-called “Islamic State” controls large swaths of land in western and northern Iraq and in neighboring Syria.
