Iraqi forces register gains in Daesh-held Ramadi

ANBAR, Iraq

Iraqi forces have continued to register gains in their ongoing effort to free the city of Ramadi from Daesh militants, Iraqi military sources told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

"Clashes remain ongoing between counter-terrorism forces and Daesh militants who have taken up positions only a few hundred meters from Ramadi’s local government HQ," Ibrahim al-Fahdawi, head of security in the city’s Khaldiya district, said.

Iraqi troops backed by U.S.-led coalition forces are now preparing to storm Ramadi’s Al-Hoz district in which the government HQ is located, Walid al-Duleimi, a colonel in the Iraqi army, told Anadolu Agency.

On Tuesday, Iraqi security forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air power launched a major operation aimed at capturing Ramadi, the regional capital of Iraq’s western Anbar province.

They have since managed to seize two districts in the southern part of the city.

A few days before the operation, Iraqi planes dropped leaflets over the city calling on local residents to leave the area within three days.

In November, Iraqi security forces -- backed by pro-government militias -- managed to establish control over roughly half of Ramadi.

In June of last year, Daesh overran Mosul -- Iraq’s second largest city -- before moving on to capture additional territory in both Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi government forces, along with pro-government militias and Kurdish peshmerga fighters, now seek to retake Daesh-held areas with air support from the U.S.-led coalition.

Over the last year, U.S.-led coalition warplanes have struck numerous Daesh positions in both Iraq and Syria, forcing the militant group to withdraw from a number of areas it had previously captured.

Daesh remains, however, in firm control of Mosul.