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Iraq
Iraqi forces surround ISIS-held complex in Ramadi
2015-12-28
[Beirut Daily Star] Iraqi forces have totally encircled the government complex in Ramadi, the last stronghold of ISIS bandidos forces of Evil in the western city, and are about to enter it, joint operations command front man Yahya Rasool told Rooters.

"We're clearing the buildings and streets around the complex of bombs in preparation to go in," he said. "I expect we will go into the complex in about an hour," he added.

Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the bandidos forces of Evil in May, would be one of the most significant victories for Iraq's armed forces since ISIS swept across a third of the country in 2014.

The bandidos forces of Evil "seem to have fled the complex, we're not encountering any resistance," said Sabah al-Numani, a front man for the counterterrorism units that are leading the fight on the government side.
ISIS is awfully fond of digging tunnels...
"We're seeing lots of Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIS) bodies, killed in the air strikes on the compound," he told Rooters.

The Iraqi government forces are backed by air support from an international coalition led by the United States.

Shiite militias backed by Iran, which have played a major role in other offensive against ISIS, have been kept away by the Iraqi government from the battlefield in Ramadi to avoid sectarian tensions.

If the offensive in Ramadi succeeds, it will be the second main city to be retaken from ISIS after Tikrit, in April. Officials said it would be handed over to the local police and to a Sunni tribal force once secured.
Al Ahram explains how ISIS fighters managed to leave:
Ali Dawood, the head of the neighbouring Khaldiya council, said IS fighters used civilians as human shields to slip out of the government complex.

"Daesh [Islamic State] fighters forced all the families living around the compound to go with them in order to flee towards Sichariyah, Sufiya and Jweiba," on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi, he said.

He had said on Saturday that more than 250 families had managed to escape the combat zones since the start of the operation and had been escorted to safety by the army. Some of them were in camps with other displaced people in Anbar, while others headed to Baghdad or the northern autonomous Kurdish region.

According to the International Organization for Migration, Anbaris account for more than a third of the 3.2 million Iraqis who have been forced from their homes since January 2014.
And from An Nahar:
The U.S.-led coalition, which was heavily involved in supporting Iraqi forces in Ramadi, also congratulated them on the success of an operation that began soon after they lost the city in May.
"It 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 all supported by over 600 coalition air strikes since July," front man Colonel Steve Warren said.

According to medical sources, 93 members of the security forces were brought in with injuries on Sunday alone.

"The dead bodies are taken directly to the main military hospital" near the airport, said one hospital source.

At least five government fighters have been killed over the past two days alone, but no official has divulged any overall toll for the operation.
Posted by:Fred

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