Iraq declares Ramadi liberated from ISIS

Iraqi security forces with the national flag enter central Ramadi, 115 kilometres west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday. — AFP

Iraq declared the city of Ramadi liberated from ISIS on Monday and raised the national flag over its government complex after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists.

Footage aired on state television showed a handful of soldiers approach a low-rise building and then emerge on its roof to hoist a small tricolour banner above their heads.

Fighters brandishing rifles danced in the Anbar provincial capital as top commanders paraded through the streets after recapturing the city they lost to ISIS in May.

Pockets of jihadists may remain but the Army said it no longer faced any resistance and that its main task was to defuse the countless bombs and traps ISIS left behind.

“Ramadi has been liberated and the armed forces of the counter-terrorism service have raised the Iraqi flag above the government complex,” Brigadier General Yahya Rasool announced on state television.

The former government headquarters in Ramadi was the epicentre of the fighting but Iraqi forces did not rush in when ISIS pulled out because the entire area was rigged.

“Daesh has planted more than 300 explosive devices on the roads and in the buildings of the government complex,” said Brigadier General Majid al-Fatlawi of the Army’s 8th division.

Several local officials said ISIS used civilians as human shields to escape the battle when it became clear their last stand in Ramadi was doomed.

A senior Army commander said that his forces were still sweeping the outskirts of the city for potential pockets of jihadists.

If the government retains control of Ramadi, which was seized by ISIS fighters in May, it would become the first city recaptured by Iraq’s US-trained Army since it fled from the hardline militants in June 2014. In previous battles since then, the Iraqi armed forces operated mainly in a supporting role beside Iranian-backed Shia militias.

Soldiers were shown on state television on Monday publicly slaughtering a sheep in an act of celebration. Gunshots and an explosion could be heard as a state TV reporter interviewed other soldiers celebrating the victory with their automatic weapons held in the air. A separate plume of smoke could be seen nearby.

US Army Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for a US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces, said in a statement: “The clearance of the government centre is a significant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work.” He said the coalition had provided more than 630 airstrikes in the area over the past six months as well as training, advice and equipment to the Army, counter-terrorism forces and the police.