Iraq declared the city of Ramadi liberated from terrorists of the so-called ’Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group Monday and raised the national flag over its government complex.

Iraq declared the city of Ramadi liberated from terrorists of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group Monday and raised the national flag over its government complex.

Pockets of terrorists may remain, but the army said it no longer faced any resistance in the city and that its main task was to defuse countless bombs and traps.

"Ramadi has been liberated and the armed forces of the counter-terrorism service have raised the Iraqi flag above the government complex," Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said on television.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the fighters who retook Ramadi, vowing to liberate the second city of Mosul and rid the entire country of IS in 2016.

"We are coming to liberate Mosul, which will be the fatal blow to ISIL," he said in a televised address.

Iraqi officials said ISIL used civilians as human shields to escape the battle when
it became clear their last stand in Ramadi was doomed.

ISIL had an estimated force of about 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi a week ago. It is unclear how many were killed and how many were able to pull back.

A senior army commander said his forces were sweeping the outskirts of the city for potential pockets of terrorists.

General Lloyd Austin, head of US Central Command which is overseeing the US role in the campaign, said Ramadi's fall "clearly demonstrates that the enemy is losing momentum as they steadily cede territory".  

Iraqi forces have not yet rushed into the former government headquarters that were the epicenter of the fighting, fearing booby traps.

"ISIL has planted more than 300 explosive devices on the roads and in the buildings of the government complex," said Brigadier General Majid al-Fatlawi of the army's 8th division.

French President Francois Hollande called the liberation of Ramadi the "most important victory yet" in the fight against the gunmen.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said "it shows once again that ISIL is not unbeatable".

The victory in Ramadi follows others in Baiji, north of Baghdad, and Sinjar, the hub of the Yazidi minority in the northeast of the country.

It will help boost Iraq's much-criticized military, which collapsed when ISIL took over large parts of the country in June 2014.