The capture of Ramadi represents a huge victory for ISIS militants, following last year’s pushback by Iraqi forces.
Smoke rises after a bomb attack in Ramadi on Friday.
STRINGER Iraq / Reuters
ISIS militants on Sunday had overrun the Iraqi city of Ramadi, according to multiple reports, seizing control after days of fighting and prompting the country's prime minister to plead with defending forces not to abandon their posts.
Government forces retreated from bases, according to Agence France-Presse and Associated Press reporters, abandoning weapons, vehicles, and equipment as they fled the advance of the extremist Sunni militants on Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province.
"God has enabled the soldiers of the caliphate to cleanse all of Ramadi," read a statement posted on jihadist internet forums by ISIS supporters, AFP reported.
"Anbar operations command has been cleared," provincial spokesman Muhannad Haimour told AFP.
The retreat came as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi used a state television address to order security forces not to abandon positions, the AP reported.
The Iraqi premier also ordered pro-government Shiite militias to enter the city, despite concerns that such a move would stoke sectarian tensions in the mainly Sunni province.
Sunni tribal fighters and Iraqi police in Ramadi on Friday.
STRINGER Iraq / Reuters
"Victory will be in the side of Iraq because Iraq is defending its freedom and dignity," the military said Sunday in a statement on its website ordering troops to stay put.
The ISIS militants on Friday came close to taking full control of the city, seizing the provincial police headquarters, as well as the government centre, AFP reported.
The battle between ISIS militants and Iraqi forces started on Thursday, with ISIS' infamous black flag waving over a number of government buildings by Friday afternoon, according to reports.
The militants are said to have used car bombs and mortars in their raid of the government compound, killing an estimated 10 local police officers while taking some 50 others hostage. Officials now fear the men could be executed.
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
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