Thousands return to Ramadi town after ISIS driven out of Iraq

Thousands of displaced families are returning to the western city of Ramadi three months after Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes drove out the Islamic State group, an Iraqi official said on Sunday.

The city’s mayor, Ibrahim al-Osaj, said Sunday that local authorities are only allowing families to return to areas that have been cleared of mines and other booby traps planted by IS.

He says “thousands” have returned, without providing a specific figure.

Iraqi security forces check identification documents at a checkpoint near the entrance to Ramadi, 70 miles (115 km) west of Baghdad, Iraq. Thousands of civilians have returned to the city after Iraqi government forces retook the Anbar provincial capital from the Islamic State group earlier this year. (Photo: AP)

Iraqi state TV aired a video showing the Head of Sunni Religious Endowments, Sheik Abdul-Latif al-Himaim, leading a convoy of dozens of cars into the city.

Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, fell to IS last May. The extremists were driven out in December.