The Iraqi prime minister has visited Ramadi, he said on social media, a day after claiming the capture of the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after a months-long siege.
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“We can commend, rather, the government of Iraq and the courageous Iraqi forces that have displayed such tremendous perseverance as well as courage in the fight to return Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, back to the Iraqi people”.
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The city, and others in Anbar province, was the scene of fierce battles between USA military troops and the Islamic State group’s predecessor, Al Qaeda in Iraq, during the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
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“The Iraqi counter terrorism forces have raised the Iraqi flag over the government complex in Anbar”, joint operations spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Some officials, though, say there is still work to do to secure Ramadi – due to small remaining pockets of ISIS resistance and landmine-laden territories in the city militants still control. But their progress was slowed by snipers, booby traps and the militants’ destruction of bridges leading into the city center.
State TV on Monday showed pictures of soldiers in Ramadi firing their guns in the air and publicly slaughtering a sheep in celebration. Mosul is thought to be extremely well-fortified and defended by far more ISIS fighters than any of the cities retaken so far.
The extremists control large swaths of land in western and northern Iraq and in neighboring Syria.
Fighters from the Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS or ISIL, fled the city’s government headquarters, the last major redoubt in Ramadi, around midday on Monday.
IS had an estimated force of around 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi a week ago. She told Al Jazeera that Ramadi is a key testing ground for the Iraqi government.
No such accusations are being made in Ramadi, where USA military personnel have played a key role in helping to train and support the effort to recapture Ramadi.
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Iraqi forces in Ramadi after a five-day offensive against the Islamic State. The strikes on Saturday destroyed vehicles operated by the militants, along with a factory used to make vehicle-borne suicide bombs and two houses that were rigged with explosives, according to statements released by the U.S.-led coalition.
