Victory over ISIS as 'caliphate' loses first major city

It is the first major triumph for the US-trained national force – which collapsed in the face of ISIS – also known as Daesh – allowing the militants to sweep across a third of Iraq last year.

The Iraqi army has been circling the key city – which is the size of Manchester and lies just 68 miles from capital Baghdad – for weeks.

But they final seized the central administration complex this afternoon after a week-long battle.

Military spokesman said: "By controlling the complex this means that we have defeated them in Ramadi.

"The next step is to clear pockets that could exist here or there in the city."

State television broadcast footage of troops, Humvee vehicles and tanks advancing through Ramadi streets amid piles of rubble and collapsed houses.

Some districts appeared to have been completely destroyed by the advance.

The government recaptured former dictator Saddam Hussein's home town of Tirkit from Daesh in April but it relied on Shi'ite Muslim militias backed by Iran – with the regular army only taking on a supporting role.

This time the army triumphed unaided – much to the relief of the US and Britain.

The government now has its eyes on Mosul – Daesh's biggest city in Iraq.

Dislodging the militants from Mosul – which had a pre-war population close to 2 million – would effectively abolish the terror cult's state structure in Iraq and deprive them of a major source of funding.

(dailystar.co.uk)