Members of Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service flash the “V” for victory sign, December 29, 2015, in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad, after Iraqi forces recaptured it from the Islamic State group.
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He added that ISIS’ loss of Ramadi is significant, considering that the city was the terrorist group’s biggest territorial grab over the past year.
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“Yes, the city of Ramadi has been liberated”, joint operations spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said in a statement broadcast on state television.
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Mosul, northern Iraq’s main city, is by far the largest population centre in the self-proclaimed caliphate ISIL rules in Iraq and Syria after going on the offensive in June 2014.
Iran is an ally of Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government and the Assad regime in Syria, and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias are deeply involved in the fight against the Sunni jihadists of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Some can be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings.
Gunshots and an explosion could be heard as a state TV reporter interviewed other soldiers celebrating the victory with their automatic weapons held in the air.
The Iraqi government of Haider al-Abadi now is saying that Mosul will be the army’s next major target, while U.S.-supported Kurdish and Arab forces are inching toward Raqqa.
The foreign secretary said that IS has been driven out of cities across the country by Iraqi forces, with support from the worldwide coalition.
ISIS has been steadily losing territory over the past several months as local and coalition forces ramp up airstrikes and coordinate missions on the ground, which could be a signal that the US-led coalition’s underlying strategy in the Middle East is gaining steam.
Iraqi troops are amassing south of Fallujah, halfway between Ramadi and Baghdad.
Baghdad has said for months that it would prove its forces’ rebuilt capability by rolling back ISIL’s shocking advances in Anbar, a mainly Sunni province stretching from Baghdad’s outskirts to the Syrian border.
Iraqi forces launched an assault on the city last week and made a final push to seize the central administration complex on Sunday. “We will reconstruct the city to bring the displaced back to their homes under the protection of Iraqi security forces”.
Authorities gave no immediate death toll from the battle for the city. As few as 400 ISIS fighters were estimated to be defending the city, seeking to prevent the government advance with little more than explosives and sniper fire.
“While Ramadi is not yet fully secure and additional parts of the city still must be retaken, Iraq’s national flag now flies above the provincial government center and enemy forces have suffered a major defeat”, he said in a statement.
“Operations to liberate Ramadi need time”.
These strikes destroyed about 50 Islamic State fighting positions, 16 heavy machine guns and some vehicle and truck bombs. “So to paint this as a strategic victory against Islamic State I think is a gross exaggeration”.
Such a strategy would echo the U.S. military’s “surge” campaign of 2006-2007, which relied on recruiting and arming Sunni tribal fighters against al Qaeda, Isis’ precursor.
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US troops were able to pacify Anbar and other Sunni areas starting in 2006 with the help of the Sahwa, or “awakening” movement – Sunni tribes and militias who allied with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq, the predecessor of the IS group.
