Baghdad, December 29 (RHC)-- The Iraqi military command has declared that the city of Ramadi has been "fully liberated" from the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, and that government soldiers have raised the national Iraqi flag over the main government building in the strategic western city.

State TV also showed troops, some waving Iraqi flags and others brandishing machine guns, chanting and celebrating inside a government complex that had been taken from Daesh the day before.

However, a later statement by General Ismail al-Mahlawi, the head of military operations in Anbar, said that parts of Ramadi are still under the control of Daesh Takfiri militants, adding that his forces had only retaken a strategic government complex.

“The troops only entered the government complex,” al-Mahlawi said, adding: “We can't say that Ramadi is fully liberated. There are still neighborhoods under their control and there are still resistance pockets.”

Ramadi fell into the hands of Daesh in May, months after the terrorist group overran territories in northern Iraq. The Iraqi forces have managed to liberate some key towns and villages from the grips of the Takfiri group like Tikrit and Baiji in Salahuddin Province.

Seizing control of Ramadi would prepare the ground for the long-anticipated offensive into Mosul, the largest city Daesh controls in the Arab country.