Iraqi soldiers are hailing a victory in Ramadi but fully retaking the city from ISIL also means securing its booby-trapped streets and flushing out extremist fighters.
Troops say they have seized the city centre, meeting no resistance now that the jihadists have abandoned a key government complex.
A military spokesman told state TV on Monday that Iraq’s counter-terrorism forces had raised the Iraqi flag above the central government building seized from ISIL.
Some reports however speak of ISIL suicide bombers holed up and ready to strike.
The capture of Ramadi, the capital of mainly Sunni-Muslim Anbar province in the Euphrates River valley west of Baghdad, deprives ISIL militants of their biggest prize of 2015.
Iraqi army declares first major victory over Islamic State in Ramadi https://t.co/HepVQ82phN pic.twitter.com/bGhkjD4A34— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) 28 Décembre 2015
They captured the city in May after government troops fled in what was seen as a major humiliatio