Iraqi forces surround Daesh-held complex in Ramadi: spokesman

Ramadi was Islamic State’s biggest prize of 2015, abandoned by government forces in May in a major setback for Baghdad and for the Iraqi troops trained by the United States since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

“The complex is under our complete control, there is no presence whatsoever of Daesh fighters in the complex”, he told Reuters, using a derogatory Arabic acronym of Islamic State.

An Iraqi pro-government forces member watches smoke billowing in Ramadi’s Hoz neighbourhood during military operations conducted by Iraqi forces against the ISIS on December 27, 2015.

“The ISIL emir of Ramadi, Abu Bakr, was arrested in a joint operation by Iraqi army’s 16th Infantry Division and the military intelligence unit”, the Arabic-language al-Sumeria news channel quoted a source close to the Iraqi army as saying.

Iraqi forces yesterday clashed with diehard jihadists from the Islamic State group defending the former government complex in the heart of the city of Ramadi.

With the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, Iraqi forces are continuing a coordinated attack on Ramadi, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Baghdad and the capital of Anbar province.

The number of IS fighters hunkered down in central Ramadi was estimated at the start of the operation five days ago at no more than 400.

It remains uncertain whether those formations are responsive to the Iraqi government or consist of forces loyal to Iranian proxy militias.

Another officer said the Iraqi army has yet to gain full control of a single Ramadi neighborhood.

“Few days only and we will liberate the whole city of Ramadi”.

One of them said he and his family were rescued after Daesh militants retreating from the battle zone used them as human shields to make their way out of the city.

No ground advance was made as the troops focused on clearing explosives, a local commander said, asking not be identified.

Meanwhile, in Syria, a U.S-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by US coalition planes, captured a dam Saturday from Islamic State fighters, cutting a main supply route of the militants across the Euphrates, alliance spokesman Colonel Talal Selo said.

Meanwhile, Ramadi residents have warmly welcomed army troops into the liberated areas of the city, with the army now reportedly heading toward the al-Humaira region south of Ramadi, according to media reports.