“The Daesh gang is collapsing because of the military operations and hard strikes by our heroic forces”, Abadi wrote on Facebook, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
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On national television, Iraq’s Prime Minister warned his forces were “coming to liberate Mosul next – and deal ISIS a fatal blow”.
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Members of Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service secure on Sunday the Hoz neighbourhood in central Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, near Baghdad, during military operations conducted by Iraqi pro-government forces against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. In previous battles since then, Iraq’s armed forces operated mainly in a supporting role beside Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias. Some can be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings.
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Meanwhile, the United States on December 28 welcomed the Iraqi forces’ victory over ISIL in Ramadi.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that Islamic State would be defeated in 2016 with the army planning to move on Mosul.
“We commend the government of Iraq and the courageous Iraqi forces that are displaying tremendous perseverance and courage in this fight”, Secretary of State John Kerry said. Iraqi military forces on Monday retook a strategic government complex in the city of…
In other air campaigns, 10 Islamic State “leadership figures” have been killed over the past month, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
On Monday, the Iraqi army reported that it had reached the city center and was in control of the government complex.
He said ISIS jihadists still control 30 percent of the Iraqi city, adding that Iraqi forces do not fully control many districts abandoned by the militants. They’re also dealing with booby-trapped buildings and streets, along with fighting on the outside of the city’s center. They have said most residents were evacuated before the assault.
Some parts of the city will need to be nearly entirely rebuilt but Abadi’s government is cash-strapped and the challenge of preparing Ramadi for the return of its people is huge.
Washington had hoped that potentially decisive battle would take place in 2015, but it was pushed back after IS seized Ramadi.
“We didn’t expect them to retreat from a number of Ramadi areas today, where we entered without any resistance, as if they evaporated”, he said.
“Greater involvement by Sunni Arabs is needed before the forces fighting Islamic State develop the capability to take, hold and police predominantly Sunni Arab territories from the group”, he said. Anbar, including Ramadi, were major focuses of that campaign at the height of the 2003-2011 US war in Iraq.
Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq since September a year ago as part of a U.S.-led global coalition.
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“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.
