BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces said Sunday that they had captured the main government compound in Ramadi, a symbolic win in a key city that has been under Islamic State control for seven months.
Engineering teams were still working to clear explosive devices in the area, but the complex was entirely under the control of Iraqi forces, military commanders said. Still, much of the city’s downtown remains in the hands of the militants, Iraqi officials said.
Backed by a barrage of U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi forces have been making steady progress in the western city in recent weeks, but they have been slowed by booby traps and by efforts to avoid civilian casualties.
The battle for Ramadi, about 80 miles west of Baghdad, is a significant test for Iraqi forces, which collapsed during an assault by the militants in May. The city was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting for U.S. military forces during the Iraq war, when they engaged in street battles with the Islamic State’s predecessor, al-Qaeda.
Although it holds limited strategic value, the government compound is in the heart of the city’s downtown and houses its administrative buildings.
