Iraqi forces retake control of Ramadi city from Daesh
'Ramadi has been liberated and counterterrorism troops have raised the Iraqi flag on the government complex in Anbar,' Iraqi military spokesman says
Iraqi armed forces have retaken Ramadi city from Daesh, the Iraqi military announced Monday.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, fell into Daesh’s hands last May.
In a televised statement, Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul said: "Ramadi has been liberated [from Daesh] and counterterrorism troops have raised the Iraqi flag on the government complex in Anbar."
Iraqi security forces were reportedly combing Ramadi for mines and booby traps.
Reports of Iraqi forces backed by coalition forces making gains in Ramadi had been making the rounds since last week.
On Sunday, Mohammed al-Bidhani, a spokesman for War Media Network affiliated with the Iraqi Defense Ministry, said that Daesh militants had fled government buildings.
Also on Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced the killing of Abu Ahmed al-Alwani, an alleged chief of Daesh's so called military council, in a military operation in Anbar.
The Iraqi military, alongside Sunni tribal fighters and backed by a U.S.-led international air coalition, began to enter Ramadi early last week.
On Dec. 22, U.S.-led coalition spokesman Col. Steve Warren noted that there was no Shia militia taking part in the offensive on Ramadi. Warren back then said that once the city is taken back, security will be assured by Sunni tribal fighters as well as the Anbar police -- the local force that has been trained by Italian Carabinieri coalition partners.
In June last year, Daesh overran Mosul -- the country’s second largest city -- before moving on to capture additional territory in both Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi government forces, along with pro-government militias and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, are currently seeking to retake Daesh-held areas with air support from the U.S.-led coalition.
Over the last year, the coalition has carried out numerous airstrikes against Daesh targets in both Iraq and Syria, forcing the militant group to withdraw from a number of areas it had previously captured.
Daesh remains, however, in firm control of Mosul.
