Iraqi troops have pushed deeper into the heart of the last remaining district held by Islamic State in the city of Ramadi, an army spokesman said on Saturday. Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, would be one of the most important victories achieved by Iraq’s armed forces since Islamic State swept across a third of the country in 2014. Soldiers advanced overnight in the Hoz neighborhood that houses the provincial government compound, the target of an attack that started on Tuesday, joint operations command spokesman Brigadier Yahya Rasool said. “The counter-terrorism forces are within 800 meters (0.5 mile) from the government complex,” advancing by about 1 km in the past day, Rasool said. “Air strikes helped detonate explosive devices and booby-trapped houses, facilitating our advance,” he added. Information about the situation on the ground is hard to verify. There was no confirmation of a claim by […]