BAGHDAD: The Iraqi Army backed by Sunni tribesmen, have retaken the strategically vital city of Ramadi from the Islamic State or Daesh group.
The security forces have entered the city and raised the countrys flag over key governmental buildings after killing hundreds of Daesh rebels, and the rest have escaped, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, Iraqi military spokesman, said.
Ramadi, capital of mainly Sunni Muslim Anbar province in the Euphrates River valley west of Baghdad, had been ISIS’s biggest prize of 2015, seized in May.
Iraqi forces, backed by Sunni fighters, launched an assault on the city last week and made a final push to seize the central administration complex on Sunday. Their progress had been slowed by explosives planted in streets and booby-trapped buildings. By Monday afternoon, as Yahya put it, Ramadi was fully liberated after ISIS fighters fled the government headquarters.
ISIS controls the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Fallujah, as well as Raqaa, the Syrian city that serves as its capital. The retaking of Ramadi would allow the Iraqi government to cut off supplies to Fallujah, which sits about halfway between Ramadi and Baghdad. It would also, in the words of The New York Times, provide a boost to Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, who has tried to reach out to the countrys Sunni minority.
The victory in Ramadi represents another setback for ISIS this year.
Last month, Iraqi Kurdish fighters recaptured Sinjar from the group. ISIS is being targeted by the Russia in neigbouring Syria forcing many of them to flee towards Iraq. However Iraqs latest victory is likely to further choke their safe havens.
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