Hours after Iraqi forces declared that they had recaptured most of the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he is confident it was the first of several key wins.
"2016 will be the year of the big and final victory, when [ISIS] in Iraq will be terminated," he said in a speech that aired on state television. ISIS seized control of Ramadi in May, and on Monday, after months of airstrikes and days of intense fighting, Iraqi troops raised the national flag above a government complex in central Ramadi. Next, al-Abadi said, forces will "liberate Mosul and it will be the fatal and final blow to" ISIS.
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