On Monday, the Iraqi military raised the country’s flag over a strategically important government complex in the city, which was seen on coalition forces’ drone footage.
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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.
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On Saturday Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi said “Iraqi forces are close to free Ramadi” and pledged that “during the next days Iraqi forces will free the IS-held territories in the provinces of Anbar as well as Salahudin and Nineveh”.
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Those sentiments were shared by Iraqi general Ismail al-Mahlawi, head of military operations in Anbar.
Iraqi government forces have been fighting to retake the city – about 90km (55 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad – for weeks.
Some Iraqi commanders have said that they expect Ramadi to be entirely back under their control by the end of the year, but large neighborhoods are yet to be secured.
Officials say Islamic State fighters have retreated from about 70 percent of city, but still control the rest.
The mostly Sunni city had a population of two million before it fell to the militants in June 2014 in the first stage of their sweeping advance through northern and western Iraq.
Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq since September a year ago as part of a U.S.-led worldwide coalition. In July, the Iraq government began a full-scale military operation to retake the province, assisted by airstrikes from an American-led coalition.
Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi issued a statement congratulating the “heroes of the security forces for a great victory, which resulted in the liberation of the city of Ramadi from terrorism”.
The national flag of Iraq is once again flying over the government complex following the landmark victory against the jihadists, also known as Isis.
Most of the Islamic State militants in the area had probably fled the city already for their stronghold in Fallujah nearer to Baghdad, al-Dulaimi said.
“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.
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Mosul is strategically vital for IS, which relies on the city for money by heavily taxing its residents and selling its oil supplies. But heavy ISIL resistance, including booby-trapped buildings and sniper fire, slowed progress, and ISIL fighters blew up all bridges leading into the city center.
