Iraqi armed forces recaptures Ramadi city from ISIS

Middle East, News April 16, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Iraqi forces have taken full control of the western city of Ramadi from ISIS militants, in what could be seen as a major blow to ISIS operating in the Arab country.

A spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command on Thursday announced the full liberation of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province.

General Sa’ad Ma’an said the Iraqi forces have driven the ISIS terrorists out of Ramadi and the city is currently under the full control of government forces.

However, fierce clashes still continue on the outskirts of the city where ISIS seized several villages earlier in the day, including Sofia, Abukhalifa and Sor. Two nearby districts of Bu Mahalat and Bu Sowda have been also captured by the ISIS militants.

The Iraqi army has vowed no halt in the operation as it is poised to push ISIS out of the nearby villages in order to secure the army’s positions inside the city.

An Iraqi federal policeman holds his national flag in the centre of the city of Tikrit on April 15, 2015. (© AFP)

Iraqi forces also secured the road between Sijariah and Sofia, a strategic connection between the Anbar province and the Jordanian and Syrian borders. The road was used by ISIS militants to get reinforcements from militants inside Syria.

Fierce clashes broke out between Iraqi government troops and the ISIS militants holed in the al-Boghanim area. At least six Iraqi security forces and civilians were killed in Thursday’s battles, with dozens of others wounded.

The liberation of Ramadi comes against the backdrop of major gains by Iraqi government against ISIS over the past months. The Iraqi forces managed to fully recapture the northern city of Tikrit from the ISIS militants at the end of March. The victory in Tikrit is viewed as a prelude to the Iraqi army’s most-anticipated offensive into the city of Mosul, a major stronghold for the terrorists in north Iraq.

ISIS started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of the country’s northern city of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers and Sunni tribesmen have succeeded in driving the ISIS terrorists out of some areas in Iraq.

MS/KA/SS