Iraq declares Ramadi liberated from Islamic State

Spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasul said forces had achieved an "epic" victory and that the Iraqi flag had been raised over the government complex there.

Some reports indicate there are still pockets of resistance in the city.

Ramadi's recapture would mark a major reversal for the jihadist group. The jihadists had seized it in May, in an embarrassing defeat for the army.

Iraqi government forces had been fighting to retake it for weeks.

Troops managed to capture the government compound on Sunday, flushing out or killing Islamic State (IS) fighters and suicide bombers who had been holding out in the buildings.

Despite the declaration of victory, the head of military operations in Anbar, Gen Ismail al-Mahlawi, said retreating IS militants still controlled parts of the city, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The operation to recapture Ramadi, about 55 miles (90km) west of Baghdad, began in early November.

It was backed by US-led coalition air strikes. But it made slow progress, mainly because the government chose not to use the powerful Shia-dominated paramilitary force that helped it regain the mainly Sunni northern city of Tikrit, to avoid increasing sectarian tensions.