Last ’ISIS’ Foothold in Ramadi Closed In

Local Editor

An army spokesman said Saturday that Iraqi forces pushed deeper into the heart of the last remaining district held by "ISIS" in the city of Ramadi.

Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, would be one of the most important victories achieved by Iraq's armed forces since the terrorist group swept across a third of the country in 2014.

In parallel, joint operations command spokesman Brigadier Yahya Rasool said that Iraqi soldiers advanced overnight in the Hoz neighborhood that houses the provincial government compound, the target of an attack that started Tuesday.

"The counter-terrorism forces are within 800 meters from the government complex," advancing by about 1 km in the past day, Rasool added.

He further explained that: "Airstrikes helped detonate explosive devices and booby-trapped houses, facilitating our advance."

However, information about the situation on the ground is hard to verify.

Ramadi is a provincial capital in the fertile Euphrates River valley, just two away west of Baghdad. Most remaining civilians in the "ISIS"-held central district are sheltered in the city's hospital, knowing that the army will not target it.

Earlier on Wednesday, military officials stated that the offensive to retake the central district should take several days.

After Ramadi, the Iraqi army plans moving to retake the northern city of Mosul, the biggest population center under the terrorist group's control in Iraq and Syria.

Removing militants from Mosul, which had a pre-war population close to 2 million, would effectively abolish their state structure in Iraq and deprive them of a major source of funding, which comes partly from oil and partly from fees and taxes imposed on residents.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team