Iraqi forces on Wednesday consolidated newly gained positions in Ramadi, after achieving a breakthrough in their fight against the Islamic State group by retaking a large part of the city.
Backed by sustained air strikes from the US-led coalition, elite troops recaptured the southwestern neighbourhood of Al-Tameem the day before.
The advance was hailed as a significant step in efforts to retake Ramadi, a key IS hub 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, and fragment the jihadists’ self-proclaimed “caliphate”. As the counter-terrorism forces that led the offensive prepared their next move, local forces from Anbar province moved in to hold recaptured territory.
Local police “moved from Habbaniyah to hold the land in Al-Tameem following its liberation,” a local councillor in the nearby Khaldiyah area, Ali Dawood, told AFP.
The force consists of around 500 fighters, a military source said. One of the main tasks for Iraqi forces is to clear the area of bombs planted by IS, a favoured tactic of the jihadists that means they can kill security personnel and civilians long after they have withdrawn from an area.
Cars and trucks laden with tonnes of explosives and driven by suicide attackers were a key weapon in IS’s shock capture of Ramadi in mid-May.
The coalition said in a statement that four such car bombs were destroyed in air raids on Tuesday, as well as a plant where they were manufactured.