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.
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As Iraqi forces neared a total takeover of Ramadi from Islamic State control, the nation’s prime minister on Monday said the victory is the first in a series that will entirely chase the militant group out of the country in 2016.
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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”. The two months it took to carry out the offensive allowed time for U.S.-led airstrikes to soften Islamic State targets and for many civilians to escape to safety.
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They had been encircled by Iraqi counterterrorism forces and police officers, backed by Sunni tribesmen who oppose the militant group and by American airstrikes.
Abadi arrived by helicopter in the ravaged city, which is located about 100 kilometers west of Iraq. The city is home to thousands of people who are trapped in between the clashes as many fear they would be used as human shields by the extremist group. The whole United States strategy of funding and training the Iraqi army to become an effective fighting force seemed then to lie in ruins and once again there were jitters about whether even Baghdad, 70 miles to the east, was safe.
“The troops only entered the government complex”, says Gen al-Mahlawi.
The Iraqi military announced on December 28 that its forces seized a key government complex in the western city of Ramadi, Iraq, following a weeklong battle with Islamic State forces.
Iraqi state TV is showing troops waving flags and brandishing machine guns in Ramadi. Soldiers could be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings. The group has been losing control of territory in Iraq and Syria recently to U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab opponents.
However, parts of the city still remain under IS control. “We were totally surprised today”, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press.
Al-Belawi said the fighters retreated mainly to the eastern neighborhoods of Sijariya and Sufiya. There was no immediate word on casualties from the fighting.
Troops have raised the Iraqi flag on top of a government complex in central Ramadi to signify their claim on the city.
“We congratulate the Iraqi Security Forces for their continued success against ISIL in Ramadi…” Mosul, northern Iraq’s main city, is by far the largest population centre in the self-proclaimed caliphate Islamic State rules in Iraq and Syria.
“The compound has been liberated”, said Suhaib al-Rawi, the governor of Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital.
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The national flag of Iraq is once again flying over the government complex following the landmark victory against the jihadists, also known as Isis.
