ISIS militants take government compound in Ramadi after clash
The assault on the government compound began with three nearly simultaneous suicide car bombings
Iraqi security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists in the eastern part of Ramadi in Anbar province, May 14. Islamic State militants raised their black flag over the provincial government compound in the city of Ramadi in western Iraq on Friday, a witness said.
Reuters
BAGHDAD
An Iraqi official says Islamic State militants have captured the main government compound in Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, after fierce clashes with security forces.
Ramadi's Mayor Dalaf al-Kubaisi says the militants raised the black flag of the IS group over the area on Friday after troops were forced to withdraw from the compound, which houses most of the city's government offices.
He says the IS militants are now attacking the Anbar Operation Command, the military headquarters for the province.
U.S. troops saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year Iraq intervention in Anbar, and Ramadi was a major insurgent stronghold.
The IS assault on the government compound began with three nearly simultaneous suicide car bombings that killed 10 police and wounded seven others.