While the liberation of Ramadi represents the most significant victory over ISIS for Iraqi security forces, the focus of Baghdad’s coalition government, the U.S.-led coalition and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan government in northern Iraq has shifted to the country’s second-largest city, Mosul.
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After losing its grip on the Iraq city of Ramadi to the Iraqi military, Islamic State group militants have reportedly carried out a string of executions and revenge attacks across the country.
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“Today, Ramadi has been freed (but) look what happened to the city”, al-Abadi said amid the many destroyed buildings.
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The Iraqi security forces, including the counterterrorism service, the Iraqi army, the Iraqi air force, the federal and local police and the tribal fighters, have demonstrated their resolve in the fight for Ramadi, ” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the CJTF-OIR commander.
The capture in May of Ramadi, the capital of the province of Anbar which lies about 90km (55 miles) west of Baghdad, was an embarrassing defeat for the Iraqi army.
On Tuesday, after raising the Iraqi flag over downtown Ramadi’s provincial government center, the Iraqi army was moving block by block through the city.
“2016 will be the year of the big and final victory, when Daesh’s presence in Iraq will be terminated”, al-Abadi said in a speech broadcast on state television, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL that the hardline group rejects.
An Iraqi military officer told the AP that the militants had retreated from the government complex to other parts of the city.
“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. “He was willing to fix his house and spend lots of money, but when he heard the news about how the Iraqi army was defeated there, he said to me, ‘Please stop working”.
The battle of Mosul would be “very, very challenging”, Mr Zebari said.
“This is grown-up work here” by the ISF in urban tactics that will provide a template for future actions against ISIS as the Iraqis turn to liberating other areas from the insurgent group that stormed out of Syria in pickup trucks 18 months ago, Warren said.
He declined to provide civilian casualties numbers and the condition of civilians in the city.
Another picture showed him crossing what appeared to be the pontoon bridge erected by Iraqi forces to enter Ramadi after Islamic State blew up the city’s bridges. The Baghdad government was quick to announce a counter-offensive to retake the city but attempts repeatedly stalled.
In the push to retake Ramadi, the ISF took a page from the U.S. Army’s playbook on urban warfare tactics, employing 21 armored bulldozers to cover the advance, Warren said.
Ramadi’s strategic location on the highway that connects Iraq with Syria and Jordan made it a prized target for ISIL, which took the city in May.
The United Nations estimates initial reconstruction needs in Ramadi require about $20 million, but the longer term outlay is likely to be much greater for a city battered by USA air strikes and Islamic State explosives over the past six months.
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USA and Iraqi officials say the bulk of the combat effort came from airstrikes provided by the US and its allies.
