BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces on Wednesday consolidated newly gained positions in Ramadi, after achieving a breakthrough in their fight against Daesh (the so-called IS) group by retaking a large part of the city.
Backed by sustained airstrikes from the US-led coalition, elite troops recaptured the southwestern neighborhood of Al-Tameem the day before.
The advance was hailed as a significant step in efforts to retake Ramadi, a key Daesh hub 100 km west of Baghdad, and fragment the militants' 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 councilor 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 Daesh, a favored tactic of the militants that means they can kill security personnel and civilians long after they have withdrawn from an area.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 Daesh'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.
A total of four coalition strikes in the area also destroyed Daesh positions and weapons and impeded the movements of militant fighters, the statement said.
Iraqi forces spent months cutting off Daesh supply lines around Ramadi and slowly closing in on the city by taking suburban areas one after the other.
They now need to make advances on the northern side of the city so they can attack Daesh from two sides.
Bomber kills eight
A suicide bomber killed at least eight people near a Shiite mosque in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, security and medical officials said. The blast in the Obeidi area also wounded at least 19 people, the officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but in Iraq suicide bombings are a tactic almost exclusively used by Daesh and other militant group. — Agencies
