Iraqi security forces on Monday declared victory over the IS militant group in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s western province of Anbar.
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The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is claimed in its entirety by both. Some senior officials of Punjab Police led by DGP Suresh Arora were also present at the base.
Pockets of jihadists may remain, but the army said it no longer faced any resistance in the city and that its main task was to defuse countless bombs and traps. He said the liberation of Mosul would be the final blow to the militant organization.
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He was sentenced to 10 years’ probation , but failed to appear for a mandatory meeting with his probation officer three weeks ago. It would take another probation violation, as an adult, for Couch to actually face the maximum sentence for his earlier crime.
The victory allows Iraqi and coalition forces to focus more attention on capturing the northern city of Mosul, which is by far the largest population center controlled by ISIS.
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I am convinced of that. “The difference was we scored the goals and then everyone is saying the second half is better”. It is the story of Hernandez. “That is, of course, much more hard when you don’t win than when you win.
He specifically praised the Shiite militia forces for liberating Ramadi, although his remarks contradicted earlier reports that such armed groups, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMG), did not play a role in taking back the Sunni city.
Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, had been slowed in Ramadi by explosives planted in streets and booby-trapped buildings. Once a key battleground in the US invasion of Iraq from 2003-2011, the state has become an ISIS stronghold over the past year as the extremist organization expanded deeper into Iraq and Syria. The Americans and Iraqis put in place critical military changes for the Ramadi offensive.
“The continued progress of the Iraqi Security Forces in the fight to retake Ramadi is a testament to their courage and determination, and our shared commitment to push ISIL out of its safe-havens”, said the statement.
The U.S. military said it carried out at least 29 airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the past week; three airstrikes hit near Ramadi from Sunday into Monday, wounding 12 IS fighters.
IS militants still control an estimated 30 percent of the city, according to Gen. Ismail al-Mahlawi, head of military operations in Anbar province. The fighters seized it in May after government troops fled in a defeat which prompted Washington to take a hard look at strategy in its ongoing air war against the militants.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that Islamic State would be defeated in 2016 with the army preparing to move on Mosul.
CBS News national security analyst Juan Zarate says the Iraqi troops are better trained and enabled – in part through USA and coalition partnership – but they also have shown newfound will and capacity.
IS had an estimated force of about 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi a week ago.
US President Barack Obama, vacationing in Hawaii with his family, received an update on Monday on the Iraqi forces’ progress in Ramadi, the White House said.
“Five units of tribal forces arrived today and hold the areas of Jaraishi, Zawiyah and Albu Faraj north of Ramadi”, said their leader, Tareq Yusef al-Asal.
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Ramadi, located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Baghdad, and nearby Fallujah, which lies halfway along the road to Baghdad and remains under IS control, saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year United States intervention in Iraq.
