Ramadi liberation ‘most important victory yet’ against ISIS – Hollande

Following the Iraqi forces’ victory in Ramadi, here is a recap of key cities and towns in Iraq and Syria seized by Daesh (ISIS) or recaptured from them.

Mr Abadi arrived by helicopter in the battle-scarred city, which lies around 100 km west of Baghdad and is the capital of the province of Anbar. In his address on the nation Abadi congratulated the Iraqi people for the recapture of Ramadi some 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and said that “every Iraqi city will come back to our homeland”.

Iraqi forces on Monday raised the national flag above the main government complex in Ramadi.

Still, American and Iraqi forces cautioned that it would take time to fully secure Ramadi. “A decade later and these (Iraqi security forces) cats are spilling blood in the same streets against the same guy(s)”.

The United States, while hailing the success Iraqi forces have shown in Ramadi, stopped short Monday of declaring the city liberated. The main aim of the offensive was to liberate Ramadi, which has been occupied by Daesh militants since May. Warren said that about 200-300 ISIS fighters were believed to be still in the area, mostly on the outskirts of Ramadi to the north and east.

Hisham al-Hashimi, a Baghdad-based analyst who has worked with the Iraqi government, said the retaking of Ramadi suggested Abadi’s strategy of heavy USA air support while sidelining the Shia militias, which have served as a bulwark against Isis, but drawn objections from Washington, could be effective.

Those sentiments were shared by Iraqi general Ismail al-Mahlawi, head of military operations in Anbar.

“Then over the border in Iraq, in addition to Ramadi – which we have to remember ISIS only took in May this year – the extremists have been pushed out of several cities – Tikrit, Sinjar, Bayji – sometimes by security forces, sometimes by an array of ethnic or religious militias”. “There are still neighborhoods under their control and there are still pockets of resistance”, he told the Associated Press on Monday, putting the proportion of Ramadi still controlled by militants at 30 percent.

“Coupled with other recent ISIL losses across Iraq and Syria… the seizure of the Government Center clearly demonstrates that the enemy is losing momentum as they steadily cede territory”, he said in a statement, using an acronym for the IS group.

The Iraqi military, alongside Sunni tribal fighters and backed by a U.S.-led worldwide air coalition, began to enter Ramadi early last week. It is considered as the most important triumph for Iraq’s US trained army, since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the hardline Sunni Muslim militants, 18 months ago.

However, Mr Hammond vowed that Britain would continue to support Iraqi forces in their efforts to wipe ISIS from the history books.