Ramadi Assault: Iraqi Forces in Center of ISIS-Held City, Official Says

Iraqi forces have advanced into the center of ISIS-held Ramadi as part of a final push to retake the city, the spokesman for Iraq's counterterrorism forces said Tuesday.

Sabah Nua'man told NBC News that counterterrorism forces were able to cross the Euphrates River into the center of the city, backed by cover from the air. He said 12 ISIS fighters were killed in the sudden assault.
ISIS seized Ramadi in May in an embarrassing defeat for Iraqi forces which raised questions from Defense Secretary Ashton Carter over whether Iraqis lacked the will to fight.

Iraqi forces launched a push to retake Ramadi earlier this month, advancing towards the center of the city and surrounding it with thousands of fighters.

Military planes dropped leaflets on Ramadi over the weekend urging residents to leave in advance of an imminent assault to oust ISIS.

U.S. officials have warned that driving ISIS from Ramadi would take time.

"It's a slow process," the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Col. Steve Warren, told a recent briefing. "And urban fighting is tough."