Seizure of Ramadi by US-Led Coalition ‘Inevitable’ - CENTCOM

The US-led coalition against the Islamic State and Iraqi forces are driving into the heart of Ramadi, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Steve Warren in Baghdad told a Pentagon press conference, the official Department of Defense News reported.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Early on Tuesday, Iraqi security forces in the southern access area to Ramadi crossed the Tharthar Canal south of the Euphrates River using an improved ribbon bridge, and started to push north into downtown Ramadi, Warren told reporters.

"We're encouraged by this tactical development, which is a continuation of the progress we've seen over the last several weeks," Department of Defense News reported Warren as saying on Tuesday. "I think the fall of Ramadi is inevitable."

Warren said US intelligence believed only 250 to 350 Islamic State troops remained in the Ramadi city center with several hundred more north and west of the city.

The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is a designated terrorist organization outlawed in numerous countries, including in Russia.

Iraq forces supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes advance their position during clashes with Islamic State group in the western suburbs of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province.

© AP Photo / Osama Sami