Iraq’s Abadi visits Ramadi to mark Islamic State defeat

“Ramadi has been liberated and the armed forces of the counter-terrorism service have raised the Iraqi flag above the government complex”, Brig Gen Yahya Rasool announced on state television.

“The expulsion of ISIL (ISIS) by Iraqi security forces, supported by our global coalition, is a significant step forward in the campaign to defeat this barbaric group and restore Iraq’s territorial sovereignty”, USA defence secretary Ashton Carter said.

“We congratulate all Iraqis on our victory against Daesh”, al-Abadi said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State that the militants consider an insult.

“We are coming to liberate Mosul and it will be the fatal and final blow to Daesh”, he added.

The ISIS group still controls much of northern and western Iraq, as well as vast swaths of neighboring Syria.

Iraqi security forces 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.

The Iraqi army’s operation in Ramadi was led by Shiite-dominated units, which are expected to “clear” the city and then pull back to allow a Sunni tribal force to move in and “hold” the area.

Abadi’s Shi’ite-led government has said for months it would prove the rebuilt capability of the army by reversing militant gains in Anbar, a mainly Sunni, largely desert province stretching from Baghdad’s outskirts to the borders of Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Ramadi was the only city to have fallen under Islamic State control since Abadi took office in September 2014.

Col. Steve Warren, U.S. spokesman for the anti-IS military operation, said that since May, the coalition had launched 630 airstrikes in and around Ramadi and trained some of the Iraqi forces that took the city back. The capture of Ramadi would be a major victory for Iraqi troops, but would also test the government’s ability to heal the country’s sectarian divide.

Iraqi troops have reclaimed Ramadi City from ISIS, the country’s military confirmed. They’re also dealing with booby-trapped buildings and streets, along with fighting on the outside of the city’s center.

“Ramadi is an example that the regular army wishes to promote for upcoming battles of liberation”, Hashimi said. He said IS fighters still control 30 percent of Ramadi and that government forces do not fully control many districts from which IS fighters have retreated.

Iraqi soldiers successfully reclaimed key points in Ramadi City.

The Iraqi military, alongside Sunni tribal fighters and backed by a U.S.-led worldwide air coalition, began to enter Ramadi early last week.