Officials say ISIS has taken control of Ramadi, Iraq

The city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic States fighters, a local government spokesman said.

The capital of Anbar province, Ramadi is 70 miles west of Baghdad. After days of fighting, Iraqi government forces were driven out of the city, Muhannad Haimour said. "The city was completely taken...it was a gradual deterioration," he added. "The military is fleeing." On Sunday, several bombings targeted police officers in the Malaab district of southern Ramadi and the military headquarters for the province, killing 15 people in total. Haimour told CNN that an estimated 500 people have been killed in recent fighting.

A police officer from Malaab told The Guardian that retreating forces left behind 30 army vehicles and weapons like assault rifles and ammunition. In a statement, ISIS claimed that its troops had full control of the city, while the Iraqi defense ministry said Iraqi warplanes launched air strikes against ISIS positions. Late Sunday, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement saying the situation was "fluid and contested," and it was too early to make a definitive statement on what was happening.

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