Two weeks after declaring victory over Daesh in Ramadi, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces have pushed militants out to its eastern suburbs, but bombs littering the streets are holding up efforts to rebuild the city, officials said. Ramadi, the largest city retaken by government forces, was touted as the first major success for Iraq's army since it collapsed in the face of Daesh's lightning advance across the country's north and west 18 months ago. But almost all the city remains off-limits to its residents, most of whom fled before the army advance, said security services. "The security forces are advancing to a large degree inside Ramadi. Most areas are now under their control," Anbar governor Sohaib Al-Rawi said on Saturday at a temporary government complex southeast of the city. "Most of the streets in Ramadi are mined with explosives so it requires large efforts and expertise," he added. The counter-terrorism forces which spearheaded the military campaign to retake the capital of western Anbar province are securing only main streets and buildings considered tactically important, security sources said. They have built up earth banks at the entrance of central neighborhoods deemed clear of militants but still laden with explosives, and marked many buildings' exteriors as "mined," the sources added. The United Nations Development Program is still waiting for the green light from the Iraqi government to enter the city and start work to rebuild it. Ambassador denies US conducting raids in northern Iraq The US ambassador to Iraq has denied reports that the United States has been carrying out helicopter raids against the Daesh militants in northern Iraq. "There have recently been reports of US helicopter raids in Hawija and Kirkuk. As Defense Minister Obaidi and numerous other Iraqi officials have stated, reports of these raids are untrue," Stuart Jones said in a statement on Saturday. Recent reports of more than a dozen air raids led by US special forces have been decried by powerful Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias and other critics of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi as violations of Iraqi sovereignty. "I want to stress what I have said many times before: Iraqi sovereignty is sacred and must be respected. All coalition activities conducted in Iraq are and will be in consultation with the Iraqi government," Jones said, referring to the US-led coalition bombing Daesh targets and training Iraqi forces. Iraqi parliament speaker Salim Al-Jabouri told Reuters on Thursday foreign special forces have been conducting raids behind Daesh lines in Hawija ahead of an offensive planned later this year to retake Mosul, the largest city under Daesh control. He said the raids were carried out "from time to time" and "supported by Iraqi forces" but did not specify whether the United States had played a role or how many had occurred. Dubai-based Al-Hadath TV and Iraqi media have reported several air raids over the last month in and around Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad. Washington said last month it was deploying a new force of around 100 special operations troops to Iraq to carry out strikes against Daesh there and in neighboring Syria. US officials gave no details. Both the US and Iraqi military have denied that US forces have carried out military operations on the ground in Hawija since October, when US special forces and Kurdish peshmerga commandos rescued 69 Iraqis in a raid in which one US commando was killed. — Reuters
