BAGHDAD: Daesh terrorists left Ramadi’s streets and buildings boobytrapped with bombs, hampering efforts to rebuild the city two weeks after Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism forces claimed victory against the militant group there, officials said.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was touted as the first major success for Iraq’s army since it collapsed in the face of Daesh's lightning advance across the country’s north and west 18 months ago.
The militants have been pushed to Ramadi’s eastern suburbs, but almost all of the city, which was battered by US-led air strikes against Daesh, remains off-limits to its nearly half a million displaced residents, most of whom fled before the army advance.
“Most areas are now under the security forces’ control,” Anbar governor Sohaib Al-Rawi said on Saturday at a temporary government complex southeast of the city. “Most of the streets in Ramadi are mined with explosives so it requires large efforts and expertise,” he said.
Specialized bomb disposal teams from the police and civil defense force would begin work “soon,” he said.
The counter-terrorism forces have built up earth banks at the entrance of central neighborhoods deemed clear of militants but still laden with explosives, and marked buildings’ exteriors as “mined,” the sources added.
Snipers have also slowed progress. Iraqi forces clear them by calling in devastating airstrikes.
Daesh men still holed up in a roughly 10 km stretch east toward Husaiba Al-Sharqiya using agricultural lands to evade detection, security sources said. It could take at least 10 days to clear those areas.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was touted as the first major success for Iraq’s army since it collapsed in the face of Daesh's lightning advance across the country’s north and west 18 months ago.
The militants have been pushed to Ramadi’s eastern suburbs, but almost all of the city, which was battered by US-led air strikes against Daesh, remains off-limits to its nearly half a million displaced residents, most of whom fled before the army advance.
“Most areas are now under the security forces’ control,” Anbar governor Sohaib Al-Rawi said on Saturday at a temporary government complex southeast of the city. “Most of the streets in Ramadi are mined with explosives so it requires large efforts and expertise,” he said.
Specialized bomb disposal teams from the police and civil defense force would begin work “soon,” he said.
The counter-terrorism forces have built up earth banks at the entrance of central neighborhoods deemed clear of militants but still laden with explosives, and marked buildings’ exteriors as “mined,” the sources added.
Snipers have also slowed progress. Iraqi forces clear them by calling in devastating airstrikes.
Daesh men still holed up in a roughly 10 km stretch east toward Husaiba Al-Sharqiya using agricultural lands to evade detection, security sources said. It could take at least 10 days to clear those areas.
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