Iraqi PM visits newly liberated Ramadi

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday visits Ramadi, a day after federal forces announced the liberation of the city from the Islamic State group, clinching a landmark victory.

Abadi arrives by helicopter in the battle-scarred city, which lies around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad and is the capital of the province of Anbar, an AFP correspondent reports.

The premier vowed Monday, after counter-terrorism forces raised the flag above the key government complex in Ramadi, to rid the whole country of IS by the end of 2016.

It is customary for the premier to visit newly reconquered cities but he was likely to feel particularly vindicated by the victory in Ramadi, which government forces had lost in May.

— AFP

A member of Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service flashes the ‘V’ for victory sign on December 29, 2015 in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad, after Iraqi forces recaptured it from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. (AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

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