ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi forces are engaged in heavy fighting in Ramadi, with some parts of the city recaptured and other advances stalled by ISIS landmines and other explosives, a top commander told the press on Thursday. “Security forces in coordination with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi anti-terror forces have managed to recapture parts of the district of Sofaiya in southern Ramadi, but ISIS booby traps and landmines have prevented our forces to launch a further assault,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Al Khalaf. “Dozens of ISIS snipers have deployed in houses and buildings in Sofiya and they have planted explosives, but our forces will not stop and soon we will clear Ramadi’s districts of Hoz and Warar,” he added. Farhan Mohamad, member of the Anbar provincial council, told several news agencies ISIS militants used chemical weapons in some areas of Anbar province resulting in the deaths of "several civilians.”
