The forces managed to close in on Ramadi, which is the capital of Anbar Province and is located some 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Iraqs capital, Baghdad, after flushing the terrorists out of five areas and clearing out a military camp and a base formerly belonging to the armys 8th Division, all located in the western part of the city.
Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Othman al-Ghanimi (seen below) said on Tuesday that the terrorist group had lost its footing in the province and was no longer capable of confronting Iraqi forces, citing Daeshs recent moves to abandon its positions and weaponry and flee the battleground during engagement.
Last Wednesday, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasoul, a senior Iraqi military official, confirmed that army troopers and forces from the Popular Mobilization units, an umbrella group of fighters, had wrested control of 80 percent of the province of Anbar and that central parts of Ramadi had been liberated.
Ghanimi said the joint forces will begin the operation to fully clear the city of Daesh in the near future.
A military source, meanwhile, said hundreds of military forces and a large number of armored vehicles were deployed to the city on Monday for the operation.
Daesh has overrun about a third of the country, where it is tyrannizing the civilian population. Ramadi fell to Daesh back in May. Operations to free the city were several times hampered by bad weather.
Also on Monday, Iraqi aircraft started to drop warning pamphlets throughout the city, encouraging the residents to cooperate with the armed forces and trust them with whatever information they might possess on the terrorists.
By Press TV
