About 700 Islamic State fighters were believed to be hiding in the center and eastern outskirts of Ramadi on Wednesday, three days after Iraqi government forces claimed victory over the militants in the western city, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The U.N. refugee agency, assisting families who have left the Anbar provincial capital, said that despite gains by security forces, conditions were not yet good enough for tens of thousands of displaced residents to return.
Much of the center of Ramadi, which previously had a population exceeding 400,000, still needs to be cleared of explosives laid by the jihadi insurgents who seized the city 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad in May, the coalition said.