Iraqi Advance Into Ramadi Slowed By Booby Traps, Snipers

Iraqi security forces are battling to root out Islamic State (IS) militants still hunkered down in the western city of Ramadi.

Iraq's armed forces have retaken most of Ramadi, with IS militants concentrating their defense around the main government complex, a strategic compound in central Ramadi.

The government advance has been slowed by militant sniper fire, car bombs, roadside bombs, and booby traps in the Sunni city on the Euphrates River some 100 kilometers west of Baghdad that the extremists captured in May.

An Iraqi security official told the AFP news agency that government forces were just 300 meters from the complex, but progress was slow.

The number of IS fighters still holding out in the city was estimated at fewer than 400.

If Ramadi is captured, it will be the second major city after Tikrit to be retaken from Islamic State in Iraq.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters