Iraqi forces fighting for Ramadi make their way toward city center

Officials say the operation marks the most significant progress made by the military since Ramadi fell to the group in May. “It’s going to be a tough fight”.

Though outnumbered, Islamic State fighters have frequently used improvised explosive devices, booby-trapped buildings and suicide vehicle and truck bombings to redress that battlefield deficit. Around 300 Islamic State fighters are believed to be hunkered down in the northern reaches of the city.

Iraqi forces closed in on the Islamic State group s last redoubts in central Ramadi Wednesday to retake the city they lost in May and further shrink the militants “caliphate”. The loss of the city badly shook faith in the ability of Iraq’s army to take on the terrorist group, which has established itself in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

IS fighters have had plenty of time to dig in since they took full control of Ramadi on May 17 after blitzing government forces with wave after wave of vehicle and truck bomb attacks.

Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service spokesman Sabah al-Numani said its troops, supported by soldiers, police and Sunni tribesmen, had begun the assault on central Ramadi at dawn and were advancing on the government complex.

“There is an ongoing operation to control a sector in preparation of the onslaught on the city centre within the coming hours, God willing”, he said.

All of Ramadi’s eight bridges have been destroyed in the fighting.

Those remaining did not appear to be giving up easily.

Col Steve Warren suggested there were between 250 and 350 IS militants entrenched in the city centre, with some hundreds more to the north and west. USA officials, concerned also by militant operations over the border in Syria, have expressed frustration at delays in seizing back the city. Those casualty numbers could not be independently confirmed.

Two days ago, Iraqi planes dropped leaflets on Ramadi, demanding civilians to evacuate the city within three days.

The slow pace of the Ramadi operation had triggered calls from some critics for a greater role for the Shiite-dominated Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces or even USA troops on the ground. And they do this all in order to place blame and to discredit them.

On Saturday, Iraqi Defence 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”.

Iraqi forces were less than a half-mile away from the main government complex after advancing through four key areas of southern Ramadi, al-Nuaman said. The official added that the suburb of Bakir had been “completely devastated” from airstrikes and shelling.

Ramadi is a crucial city in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and its capture by the group was seen as a major defeat, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reported.

The Iraqi forces had trained for the maneuver with the engineers of the 814th Multi-Role Bridging Company based at Fort Polk, Louisiana, Warren said.