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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Iraqi Army Declares Victory Over Islamic State In Ramadi (337 Views)
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Iraqi Army Declares Victory Over Islamic State In Ramadi by Nobody: 11:26pm On Dec 27, 2015 |
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's army said on
Sunday it had defeated Islamic State fighters in
a provincial capital west of Baghdad, the first
major victory for the U.S.-trained force since it
collapsed in the face of an assault by the
militants 18 months ago.
Victory in Ramadi, capital of mainly Sunni-
Muslim Anbar province in the Euphrates River
valley west of the capital, deprives Islamic
State militants of their biggest prize of 2015.
The fighters captured it in May after
government troops fled in a defeat which
prompted Washington to take a hard look at
strategy against the militants.
After encircling the city for weeks, the Iraqi
military launched a campaign to retake it last
week, and made a final push to seize the
central administration complex on Sunday. "By
controlling the complex this means that we
have defeated them in Ramadi," said Sabah al-
Numani, a spokesman for the force leading the
fight on the government side. "The next step is
to clear pockets that could exist here or there
in the city."
State television broadcast footage of troops,
Humvee vehicles and tanks advancing through
Ramadi streets amid piles of rubble and
collapsed houses. Some districts appeared to
have been completely destroyed by the
advance.
Television also showed nighttime celebrations
in mainly Shi'ite cities south of Baghdad, for
the victory in Anbar, with people dancing in the
streets and waving Iraqi flags from cars.
Officials did not give any immediate death tolls
for the battle. The government says most
civilian residents of the city were able to
evacuate before it launched its assault.
Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS,
ISIL or Daesh, swept through a third of Iraq in
June 2014 and declared a "caliphate" to rule
over all Muslims from territory in both Iraq
and Syria, carrying out mass killings and
imposing a draconian form of Islam.
Since then, the battle against the group in both
countries has drawn in most global and regional
powers, often with competing allies on the
ground in complex multi-sided civil wars.
A U.S.-led coalition has been waging an air
campaign against the fighters in both countries,
but rebuilding the Iraqi army to the point that
it was capable of recapturing and holding
territory has been one of the biggest
challenges.
In previous battles, including the recapture of
former dictator Saddam Hussein's home city
Tirkit in April, the Iraqi government relied on
Iran-backed Shi'ite militias for ground fighting,
with its own army in a supporting role.
Ramadi was recaptured by the army itself,
without relying on the militias, who were kept
off the battlefield to avoid sectarian tensions
with the mainly Sunni population.
"The complex is under our complete control,
there is no presence whatsoever of Daesh
fighters in the complex," Numani told Reuters.
The government said the next target after
Ramadi will be the northern city of Mosul, by
far the largest population center controlled by
Islamic State in either Iraq or Syria.
"The smooth victory in Ramadi should be happy
news for the residents of Mosul," Numani said.
U.S. officials had hoped Baghdad would launch
an assault on Mosul during 2015, but this was
put off after the fighters swept into
Ramadi.Dislodging the 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 on residents.
https://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/idinkbn0ua0dh20151227?irpc=932 |
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