Iraq claims liberation of Ramadi from ISIS is a major gain

#ISIS #ramadi #Iraqiforces #Tikrit The Iraq army has claimed that it has captured the key city of Ramadi and see this as a major victory against Islamic State but, a US defense official has said it has, so far, not been able to to confirm the Iraqis' claims. If confirmed, then the capture of Ramadi, capital of mainly Sunni-Muslim Anbar province in the Euphrates River valley west of the capital, would be a big blow to ISIS since it will deprive IS militants of their biggest prize of 2015.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 28 December 2015.

The Iraqi army had encircled the city for weeks and made the final thrust to seize the central administration complex on Sunday. Iraq's counter-terrorism forces have raised the Iraqi flag above the complex on Monday and the joint operations spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool has said, in a statement broadcast on state television, that Ramadi has been liberated.
It may be recalled that the Iraqi army had already retaken the city of Tikrit from the jihadists in the spring. The final stronghold for IS in Iraq is Mosul in the north which could be the next target of the government. The number of people killed in this battle have not been disclosed but, the government has said that most civilians had been evacuated before it launched its assault.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

Moody on climate change – promote bullock carts and tonga (satire)

Baba Someday to use gobar gas and yoga for space flights (satire)

Momo and sushi gear up to dislodge jilebi and pedhas (satire)


Winterline carnival in Mussourie - enjoy hot air balloon rides

Mamata Banerjee visits Digha sea beach and outlines her plans

Elon Musk finally gets it right - SpaceX rocket lands back on Earth vertically


'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' takes the world by storm - set to break records

Batman Ben Affleck, the Dark Knight, speaks up

When Bollywood film stars fall in love with Kolkata


British Muslim family not allowed to travel to Disneyland from Gatwick airport

ISIS chooses jungles of Philippines as its training camp

Terror attacks in Paris makes the US issue global alert for its citizens