Iraqi forces closes in on Ramadi as officials praise heroism

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command for Anbar Province said in a statement on Wednesday that the pro-government forces have further closed in on the provincial capital of Ramadi, retaking a key bridge north of the city.
 
    “Great people, the hour of victory against the Daesh criminal gangs has come,” said the statement, adding, “Your heroic forces are advancing steadily from the northern side... [and] they [have] managed to reach Albu Farraj area.”
 
Major General Ismail Mahalawi, who serves as the head of the Anbar command, said “Iraqi forces have raised the Iraqi flag on Albu Farraj bridge” over the Euphrates.
 
Over the past two weeks, units of the Iraqi army, backed by popular forces known as the Popular Mobilization Units, have been making advances around Ramadi, a city located 100 kilometers west of the capital Baghdad. Those gains have been mostly in the west and north of the city with Daesh militants forced back to the central neighborhoods.
 
Military officials have blamed the scorching heat for their sluggish progress to retake the city since the start of October.
 
Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, Iraqi forces launched an operation to retake the town of Baiji and its highly significant refinery facility.
 
Baiji is located only 150 km (90 miles) away from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city which is also under the control of Daesh.
 
Military spokesman Colonel Mohammed al-Asadi said Wednesday that Iraqi allied forces have managed to fight their way into the center of Baiji.
 
Iraq has been grappling with a deadly insurgency since the summer of 2014 when Daesh seized control of some territories west and north of the Arab country. The Takfiri terrorist group has claimed dozens of bombing attacks on areas outside of its control across Iraq, including those in central and eastern provinces.
 
The Iraqi military and popular forces have managed to expel the militants from some key areas, including Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin Province, which was declared liberated at the end of March.