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[h=4]Iraq retakes central Ramadi from Islamic State[/h]Iraq's government has been trying to recapture the city for weeks. It fell to the Islamic State in May.
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An Iraqi military commander says Iraqi troops have surrounded a local government complex in Ramadi, but that fighters inside have stopped firing. The Iraqi forces are concerned the building could be boobytrapped. AP
Members of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces on Dec. 27 secure the Hoz neighborhood in central Ramadi.(Photo: AFP)
BAGHDAD — Iraqi government forces<span style="color: Red;">*</span>retook central parts of the key city of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ramadi on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday from Islamic State militants, the military said.
The announcement was made by Iraq's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>broadcast<span style="color: Red;">*</span>live on state TV. Rasool said Ramadi had been "grabbed from the hateful claws" of the Islamic State.
The operation's success was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>subsequently confirmed by the Pentagon.
"We congratulate the Iraqi Security Forces for their continued success against ISIL in Ramadi," said U.S. Army spokesman Col. Steve Warren in Baghdad.
"The clearance of the government center is a significant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work by the Iraqi Army, the Counter Terrorism Service, the Iraqi Air Force, local and federal police, and tribal fighters."
Still, while the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Iraqi military declared the city had been “fully liberated," Gen. Ismail al-Mahlawi, head of military operations in Anbar Province, clarified that parts of the city remained under Islamic State, also known as ISIL,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>control.
“The troops only entered the government complex,” al-Mahlawi told The Associated Press. “We can’t say that Ramadi is fully liberated. There are still neighborhoods under their control and there are still resistance pockets.”
Another Iraqi military commander, Abdul Ghani Al Assad, said ISIL still held outlying districts of Ramadi but that the group’s fighters were now on the run.
"Daesh fled to the eastern outskirts of the city,” said Al Assad, using the Arabic term for ISIL. “We will chase them to end their evil totally.”
Ramadi is situated about 70 miles west of Baghdad.
Iraq's government has been trying to recapture the city for weeks. It fell to the Islamic State in May.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Iraq's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>security forces previously said, on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sunday, they had encircled the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>key government facility after several days of fighting.
Vanden Brook reported from Washington
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