Iraqi Security forces with national flag enter downtown Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015.
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Iraqi forces worked Tuesday to clear Islamic State fighters from Ramadi, defusing bombs from streets and buildings as sporadic clashes took place on the outskirts of the city.
Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Belawi told The Associated Press that Abadi began his visit by meeting security and provincial officials for the latest updates.
Retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the global coalition against the militants until October, said the success in Ramadi is best viewed in the broader context of efforts that have led to Iraqi forces taking back Tikrit, Baiji and other areas from the militants in the past few months. “By controlling the complex this means that we have defeated them in Ramadi”, said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the force leading the fight on the government side.
The army’s apparent capture of Ramadi, in the Euphrates River valley west of Baghdad, marks a milestone for the forces, which crumbled when the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militants seized a third of Iraq in June 2014.
The long-awaited battle to retake Ramadi has raged on for weeks.
Rebuilding Ramadi, if it can be fully secured by the government, also will be no easy task.
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. Soldiers could be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings.
In the interview, Zebari also said the battle of Mosul would be “very, very challenging”, adding that the Iraqi army may also need to draw on local Sunni forces and possibly Shia volunteers from the Popular Mobilization Units in support roles. In addition to lifting the morale of Iraq’s security forces, the Ramadi victory should enhance the political standing of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the Shiite leader who has been more moderate and reform-minded than his pro-Iran political rivals, who have fueled sectarian violence for years.
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.
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The US-led coalition, which includes major European and Arab powers, has been waging an air campaign against ISIL positions in both Iraq and Syria since a third of Iraqi territory fell to the fighters in mid-2014.
