All Islamic State fighters said ousted from Ramadi compound

Iraqi forces surround building complex, clear area of mines and booby traps as operation comes to a close

By AFP 27 December 2015, 6:29 pm

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File: An Iraqi pro-government forces member watches smoke billowing in Ramadi's Hoz neighbourhood, about 110 kilometers west of the capital Baghdad, during military operations conducted by Iraqi forces against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, on December 27, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / STR)

The Islamic State group’s fighters have all left the flashpoint former government compound in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, the spokesman of the elite counter-terrorism service said Sunday.

“All Daesh (IS) fighters have left. There is no resistance,” Sabah al-Numan told AFP, adding that the entire perimeter had to be cleared of mines and booby traps before troops could move in.

“Our forces have surrounded the government complex. They are checking all entrances and surrounding buildings before moving in,” he said.

“The operation is almost wrapped up. Our forces will enter in the coming hours,” Numan said.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes had punched into the city center on Tuesday, in a final push to retake the city they lost in May.

The fighting over the past two days had been concentrated around the former government complex, which IS fighters defended with snipers, suicide car bomb attacks and hundreds of roadside bombs and booby traps.