Iraqi forces appeared poised to regain control of the city of Ramadi on Monday in what would mark their most significant victory against Isis fighters to date, although analysts warned myriad difficulties still lay ahead.
State television broadcast footage of government soldiers raising the Iraq flag over Ramadi’s main government complex while a Sunni politician said that Isis fighters were fleeing the city towards rural areas. But questions still remained over just how much of the city, which Iraqi forces were forced to abandon in May, was under government control and just what was left of the city for civilians to return to.
“Militarily speaking, we can say that the city of Ramadi has fallen back into the hands of the Iraqi forces,” Sunni politician Jaber Jaberi told the Financial Times. “It is considered a fallen city because there is no resistance from Isis.”