ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s government on Sunday gave residents 72 hours to evacuate Ramadi, as reinforcements arrived ahead of an anticipated offensive, the third since Islamic State (ISIS) militants seized the key city in May. “The residents of Ramadi need to leave the city in 72 hours,” the Baghdad government said in a statement. Fresh troops with heavy weapons arrived near Ramadi on Sunday, joining soldiers who in the past two days have moved into parts of Ramadi and Fallujah, Anbar’s other major city. In recent days the Iraqi army has made substantial advances in Ramadi, thanks to close US air support. “The military support arrived in the town of Khalidiya and will be soon transferred to the east and north of Ramadi,” Ali Daoud, a town official, said in a statement Sunday. He added that the reinforcements have arrived with heavy weapons, including tanks. Ramadi fell to ISIS last May. Since then the army, backed by Shiite militias and some Sunni tribal forces, has launched two major offensives to wrest control of the province from the religious fanatics.
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