President Barzani congratulates Abadi after Ramadi liberation
Maintaining military pressure on jihadists from all fronts in the country was another topic that was emphasized between both sides.
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - On Wednesday, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, congratulated Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi for liberating Ramadi from Islamic State (IS) insurgents on December 29.
Iraqi security forces including the Iraqi army and Shia militia groups freed Ramadi, the key city in Anbar Province located in western Iraq. The city was under the control of IS insurgents since May 2015.
Barzani congratulated Abadi on the telephone for the liberation of the city center of Ramadi from the IS insurgents. They discussed the current military and security situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, and they also discussed the fight against jihadists in the country.
Barzani and Abadi also discussed the need for more cooperation between the Iraqi Federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), especially militarily between both the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraqi forces in order to destroy IS.
In addition, maintaining military pressure on jihadists from all fronts in the country was another topic that was emphasized between both sides. The pair stated that military operations against jihadists in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region must continue in order to eradicate IS and liberate the IS-occupied territories in the country.
Following the liberation of Ramadi on Tuesday, Abadi visited Ramadi and presented a speech stating, "What was promised has been fulfilled, and Daesh [IS] has been defeated in Ramadi. Ramadi has returned to the bosom of Iraq, and every Iraqi city will return to the great nation."
United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Jan Kubis, released a statement on Tuesday which stated, “I congratulate the Iraqi people on the liberation of Ramadi. This shows that terrorism can and will be defeated and that ISIL is steadily losing ground in Iraq due to the valiant efforts and sacrifices of the Iraqi Security Forces, Popular Mobilization Forces [Hashd al-Shaabi militia], Peshmerga and the sons of the tribes.”
