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Iraq forces extend Ramadi control, rescue civilians
Warplanes carried out nine air strikes near Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which fell to Islamic State fighters in 2014.
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Iraqi forces yesterday pushed out of central Ramadi to extend their grip on the city, sweeping neighbourhoods to flush out pockets of militants and evacuate trapped civilians.
They said living conditions deteriorated to their worst since the Islamists overran it in May.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday said the army would head next to Mosul, the biggest urban centre under ISIS control.
Iraqi military and volunteer fighters on December 28 declared that they had recaptured Ramadi, although later reports said some neighborhoods of the capital of Anbar were still under the control of Daesh.
According to posts on the SITE Intelligence Group’s website, the militants – also known as ISIS or ISIL – also claimed they had taken over about 20 army barracks and posted photos online of their fighters standing in the city’s main government complex.
Iraq’s military says Islamic State militants on Friday launched multiple suicide attacks on the outskirts of Ramadi.
He said their task was complicated by the high number of roadside bombs and the fact that IS was firing on civilians trying to escape.
Police chief Hadi Irzayij said the suspected militants “were attempting to flee Ramadi by blending in with civilians”.
Although the Ramadi victory has engendered at least modest optimism, there are far tougher battles ahead, including a much-delayed offensive to retake Mosul.
Daily military statements mention air strikes and attacks by the Iraqi army and the worldwide coalition in and around Falluja, a city with a pre-war population of around 300,000 located 70 km (45 miles) west of the capital. He said the 10 vehicles targeted the Iraqi army’s 10th Division base northeast of Ramadi.
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He cautioned, “We shouldn’t spike the ball just yet in Iraq, but it seems in the latter part of 2015 and the early stages of 2016 we may see some hope yet in the Iraqi security forces and their government. We had to pick out the bugs before kneading and eating it”, she said. He described some of them as senior local leaders.