Beyond statements from the Iraqi government and from its media outlets, few have claimed the city is fully liberated.
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Also, military sources told Al Jazeera reports in Iraq said that government troops now controlled at least 60 percent of the city as Islamic State group fighters were resisting the offensive with suicide bombings, booby traps and snipers.
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Baghdad has said for months it would prove its forces’ rebuilt capability by rolling back militant advances in Anbar, a mainly Sunni province stretching from Baghdad’s outskirts to the Syrian border.
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The Iraqi military launched a long-promised campaign to retake the city, located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Baghdad, last week.
The troops have been fighting for months to retake key cities and towns in Anbar, Iraq’s largest province, from IS militants who have seized most of Anbar and tried to advance towards Baghdad.
Ramadi was recaptured by federal forces, with the Popular Mobilisation – a paramilitary force dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militia groups – remaining on the fringes.
The Iraqi army has declared a victory against the Islamic State, having reportedly retaken a city once held by the terrorist organization.
In June previous year, Daesh overran Mosul – the country’s second largest city – before moving on to capture additional territory in both Iraq and Syria.
“Peshmerga is a major force; you can not do Mosul without Peshmerga”, he said, referring to the armed forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous northern region close to Mosul.
Nine strikes in Syria hit four Islamic State tactical units near three cities and several fighting positions, among other targets, the statement said.
The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashid Shaabi, is a loosely knit coalition of mostly Iran-backed Shiite militias set up to fight Islamic State. Anbar, including Ramadi, was a major focus of that campaign at the height of the 2003-2011 US war in Iraq.
US Army Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces, said: “The clearance of the government centre is a significant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work”.
The prime minister congratulated the security forces on their recapture of Ramadi, which they had lost in May following a devastating jihadist onslaught.
CNN contributor Michael Weiss, author of “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror”, agrees that a wait-and-see approach to what’s happening in Ramadi is necessary.
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“If 2015 was a year of liberation, 2016 will be the year of great victories, terminating the presence of Daesh [ISIL] in Iraq and Mesopotamia”, he said in a televised address.
