The Iraqi army has launched a new operation to liberate the strategic city of Ramadi from the Takfiri ISIS terrorists, as pro-government forces close in on the militants in the capital of the western province of Anbar.
Iraqi sources said on Tuesday that army units backed by the volunteer fighters in the first phase of the operation aim to retake the Tamim neighborhood, one kilometer from the center of Ramadi.
The new offensive comes one day after the allied forces managed to retake the Husaibah neighborhood, just seven kilometers (about 4.5 miles) east of Ramadi, from ISIS. Iraqis said on Tuesday that they have fully purged the area from the militants.
Ramadi, which has been under the control of ISIS since earlier this year, is already surrounded by the pro-government forces with reports suggesting that the terrorists have no more supply line for reinforcement.
The Iraqi military on Monday called on residents to leave Ramadi from the south of the city.
ISIS began its offensive in Iraq in June 2014. Pro-government forces have managed to push back the militants from some of their major bastions, including the cities of Tikrit and Baiji in the northern province of Salahuddin.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement on Tuesday that 888 people were killed in violence in Iraq in November, up from 714 the previous month. The figures do not include casualties in Anbar Province, where the UN said it could not obtain or verify data. ISIS uses vast areas of the desert province for communicating with the towns and cities it has under control in neighboring Syria; Press TV reported.
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