Iraqi troops say they are close to liberating the city of Ramadi from the control of Islamic State militants.
Ramadi, located about 110 kilometres from Baghdad, has been in the hands of extremists for more than seven months until a surge by Iraq鈥檚 coalition-trained army and airstrikes by coalition forces isolated the militants from weapons and supplies.
鈥淭he enemy began to fall apart. The city is being surrounding by 360 degrees,鈥� said Iraqi army commander Hamid Atiya al-Maliki. 鈥淲e are only about one kilometre from the government compound.鈥�
The Iraqi forces have already liberated the city鈥檚 southern neighbourhoods and claim the terror group is quickly losing control of the city.
鈥淎 few days only, and we'll liberate the whole city,鈥� says one Iraq soldier.
Now, the Iraqi military has set its sights on regaining the ISIS stronghold of Mosul.
On Friday, the Department of National Defence confirmed that, over the last 48 hours, intensified airstrikes by Canada鈥檚 CF-18 fighter jets have helped destroy ISIS fighting positions near three key cities, including Mosul, which was captured by the terror group a year ago.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a dry run against Mosul, which is a much larger city and much more investing (than Ramadi) in the mythology of the Islamic State, since that was the very first city that it took,鈥� said George Petrolekas, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Meanwhile, the United States launched 19 airstrikes, wiping out ISIS fighting positions, weapons factories and command centres in eight Iraqi cities.
While Canada鈥檚 military contributions in the war-torn country may have ramped up over the last two days, the country鈥檚 fighter jets are set to return home in the new year.
The federal government has yet to define what Canada鈥檚 new role in the conflict will be.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Richard Madan
