Iraqi Security Force's Ramadi Liberation Casualties Likely a Thousand

The number of Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) casualties in Ramadi has risen to the thousands, while the ISF death toll likely remains in the hundreds, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesperson Col. Steven Warren told reporters on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — "Iraqi Security Force casualties, we think total casualties to be in a ballpark of a thousand, of those killed…I think [is] substantially lower, probably in the vicinity of 100," Warren said.

Estimates of ISF casualties come as the Iraqi forces have made significant progress in reclaiming the capital of the Anbar province in recent months from the Islamic State (IS or Daesh in Arabic) and have also vowed to begin liberating nearby cities.

Warren said that there were currently "no significant numbers of enemy forces moving into Ramadi," but that they expect Daesh terrorists would try to infiltrate back into the city although not at any significant rate.

According to Iraqi intelligence, between 250 and 300 radical Islamist militants had taken a hold of central districts of Ramadi.

The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and in other countries. It has seized large areas in Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate on territories under the rule of Sharia law.