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Iraqi forces 'enter Islamic State Ramadi stronghold' | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Iraqi forces have entered a former government compound in Ramadi, from where Islamic State group militants have been resisting an army offensive, sources have told the BBC. | Iraqi forces have entered a former government compound in Ramadi, from where Islamic State group militants have been resisting an army offensive, sources have told the BBC. |
The source said troops had entered one building and were planning to push cautiously through the rest of the huge compound amid fears of explosives. | |
IS militants are believed to have fled to the north-east of the city. | IS militants are believed to have fled to the north-east of the city. |
The government has been trying to retake the city for weeks. | The government has been trying to retake the city for weeks. |
The mainly Sunni Arab city, about 55 miles (90km) west of Baghdad, fell to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in May, and was seen as an embarrassing defeat for the army. | |
A group of Iraqi soldiers had entered what used to be the city's department of health - housing the blood bank - the BBC's Thomas Fessy reports from Baghad, quoting security sources. | |
They did so after aerial surveillance detected no human activity in the complex. | |
Our correspondent says the Iraqi military believes the militants have headed north-east; fighting meanwhile is reported to be under way to the south-west of the compound. | |
The operation to recapture Ramadi began in early November, and troops have seized several districts as they headed into the city in recent days. | |
Concern remains for the plight of hundreds of families who have been trapped on the frontline, our correspondent says. |