Story highlights
- "Mosul is different than Ramadi, it's a big, big, big city," U.S.-led coalition official says
- Iraqi Prime Minister says 2016 "will be the year we drive ISIS out of Iraq"
- Iraqi forces are still trying to clear remaining ISIS fighters out of Ramadi
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)After retaking most of the key city of Ramadi from ISIS militants, Iraqi leaders say they are setting their sights on an even bigger prize: Mosul.
Iraqi forces have driven ISIS jihadists out of the heart of Ramadi, which the Sunni extremist group seized in May in a humiliating setback for the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition that's backing it.
Significant pockets of ISIS resistance remain in Ramadi, still controlling as much as 25% of it as of Tuesday, local tribal leaders said. But that didn't stop Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi from visiting the shattered city and raising the national flag.
Next year "will be the year we drive ISIS out of Iraq," he declared.
With efforts to finish clearing ISIS out of Ramadi still expected to take weeks, it seemed like a bold statement, especially in light of the militants' habit of hiding among local populations and booby-trapping territory they give up.
Differences between Mosul and Ramadi
Reclaiming Mosul, the country's second-largest city, will be a crucial step in trying to achieve Abadi's ambitious goal. CNN's Nima Elbagir, on her way to Ramadi, said it appeared that "very little" of the city's infrastructure remained.
Iraqi military declares Ramadi 'liberated' 01:48
She said Ramadi had been retaken with the help of hundreds of airstrikes.
Mosul, a city of more than 1 million people about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad, fell to ISIS in June 2014 as Iraqi security forces fled en masse in a stunning defeat that underscored the Islamic militant group's rapidly expanding menace.
U.S. officials appear to be more cautious about the scale of the challenge than their jubilant Iraqi counterparts.
"Mosul is different than Ramadi, it's a big, big, big city, and it is going to take a lot of effort," said Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS. "It's going to take more training, it's going to take more equipment and it's going to take patience."
Squeezing ISIS out of Falluja
He expressed optimism, though, that Iraqi forces would be able to hold on to their gains in Ramadi and progress in efforts to retake nearby Falluja, another important city in the predominantly Sunni Muslim Anbar province.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
Wounded passengers are treated following a suicide bombing at the Brussels Airport on March 22, 2016. The attacks on the airport and a subway killed 32 people and wounded more than 300. ISIS claims its "fighters" launched the attacks in the Belgian capital.
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Syrians gather at the site of a double car bomb attack in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood of the Homs, Syria, on February 21, 2016. Multiple attacks in Homs and southern Damascus kill at least 122 and injure scores, according to the state-run SANA news agency. ISIS claimed responsibility.
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Syrian pro-government forces gather at the site of a deadly triple bombing Sunday, January 31, in the Damascus suburb of Sayeda Zeynab. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement circulating online from supporters of the terrorist group.
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Yemenis check the scene of a car bomb attack Sunday, December 6, in Aden, Yemen. Aden Gov. Jaafar Saad and six bodyguards died in the attack, for which the terror group ISIS claimed responsibility.
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Investigators check the scene of a mosque attack Friday, November 27, in northern Bangladesh's Bogra district. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least one person dead and three more wounded.
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Wounded people are helped outside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris following a series of coordinated attacks in the city on Friday, November 13. The militant group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least 130 people and wounded hundreds more.
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Emergency personnel and civilians gather at the site of a twin suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, November 12. The bombings killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200 more. ISIS appeared to claim responsibility in a statement posted on social media.
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Smoke rises over the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on November 12. Kurdish Iraqi fighters, backed by a U.S.-led air campaign, retook the strategic town, which ISIS militants overran last year. ISIS wants to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria.
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Syrian government troops walk inside the Kweiras air base on Wednesday, November 11, after they broke a siege imposed by ISIS militants.
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Members of the Egyptian military approach the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane Sunday, November 1, in Hassana, Egypt. The plane crashed the day before, killing all 224 people on board. ISIS claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but the group's claim wasn't immediately verified.
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An explosion rocks Kobani, Syria, during a reported car bomb attack by ISIS militants on Tuesday, October 20.
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Shiite fighters, fighting alongside Iraqi government forces, fire a rocket at ISIS militants as they advance toward the center of Baiji, Iraq, on Monday, October 19.
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Smoke rises above a damaged building in Ramadi, Iraq, following a coalition airstrike against ISIS positions on Saturday, August 15.
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Iraqi men look at damage following a bomb explosion that targeted a vegetable market in Baghdad on Thursday, August 13. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
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In this image taken from social media, an ISIS fighter holds the group's flag after the militant group overran the Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn on Thursday, August 6, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. ISIS uses modern tools such as social media to promote reactionary politics and religious fundamentalism. Fighters are destroying holy sites and valuable antiquities even as their leaders propagate a return to the early days of Islam.
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An ISIS fighter poses with spoils purportedly taken after capturing the Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn.
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Smoke rises as Iraqi security forces bomb ISIS positions in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi, Iraq, on August 6.
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Buildings reduced to piles of debris can be seen in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi on August 6.
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The governor of the Asir region in Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz, left, visits a man who was wounded in a suicide bombing attack on a mosque in Abha, Saudi Arabia, on August 6. ISIS claimed responsibility for the explosion, which killed at least 13 people and injured nine others.
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Saudi officials and investigators check the inside of the mosque on August 6.
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Mourners in Gaziantep, Turkey, grieve over a coffin Tuesday, July 21, during a funeral ceremony for the victims of a suspected ISIS suicide bomb attack. That bombing killed at least 31 people in Suruc, a Turkish town that borders Syria. Turkish authorities blamed ISIS for the attack.
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Protesters in Istanbul carry anti-ISIS banners and flags to show support for victims of the Suruc suicide blast during a demonstration on Monday, July 20.
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People in Ashmoun, Egypt, carry the coffin for 1st Lt. Mohammed Ashraf, who was killed when the ISIS militant group attacked Egyptian military checkpoints on Wednesday, July 1. At least 17 soldiers were reportedly killed, and 30 were injured.
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Syrians wait near the Turkish border during clashes between ISIS and Kurdish armed groups in Kobani, Syria, on Thursday, June 25. The photo was taken in Sanliurfa, Turkey. ISIS militants disguised as Kurdish security forces infiltrated Kobani on Thursday and killed "many civilians," said a spokesman for the Kurds in Kobani.
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Residents examine a damaged mosque after an Iraqi Air Force bombing in the ISIS-seized city of Falluja, Iraq, on Sunday, May 31. At least six were killed and nine others wounded during the bombing.
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People search through debris after an explosion at a Shiite mosque in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, May 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to tweets from ISIS supporters, which included a formal statement from ISIS detailing the operation.
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Iraqi soldiers fire their weapons toward ISIS group positions in the Garma district, west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, on Sunday, April 26. Pro-government forces said they had recently made advances on areas held by Islamist jihadists.
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A member of Afghanistan's security forces stands at the site where a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up in front of the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday, April 18. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The explosion killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100 others, a public health spokesman said.
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Iraqi counterterrorism forces patrol in Ramadi on April 18.
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Thousands of Iraqis cross a bridge over the Euphrates River to Baghdad as they flee Ramadi on Friday, April 17.
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Yazidis embrace after being released by ISIS south of Kirkuk, Iraq, on Wednesday, April 8. ISIS released more than 200 Yazidis, a minority group whose members were killed, captured and displaced when the Islamist terror organization overtook their towns in northern Iraq last summer, officials said.
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Kurdish Peshmerga forces help Yazidis as they arrive at a medical center in Altun Kupri, Iraq, on April 8.
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A Yazidi woman mourns for the death of her husband and children by ISIS after being released south of Kirkuk on April 8. ISIS is known for killing dozens of people at a time and carrying out public executions, crucifixions and other acts.
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People in Tikrit inspect what used to be a palace of former President Saddam Hussein on April 3.
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On April 1, Shiite militiamen celebrate the retaking of Tikrit, which had been under ISIS control since June. The push into Tikrit came days after U.S.-led airstrikes targeted ISIS bases around the city.
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Iraqi security forces launch a rocket against ISIS positions in Tikrit on Monday, March 30.
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The parents of 19-year-old Mohammed Musallam react at the family's home in the East Jerusalem Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov on Tuesday, March 10. ISIS released a video purportedly showing a young boy executing Musallam, an Israeli citizen of Palestinian descent who ISIS claimed infiltrated the group in Syria to spy for the Jewish state. Musallam's family told CNN that he had no ties with the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and had, in fact, been recruited by ISIS.
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Iraqi Shiite fighters cover their ears as a rocket is launched during a clash with ISIS militants in the town of Al-Alam, Iraq, on Monday, March 9.
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Displaced Assyrian women who fled their homes due to ISIS attacks pray at a church on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, March 1. ISIS militants abducted at least 220 Assyrians in Syria.
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Safi al-Kasasbeh, right, receives condolences from tribal leaders at his home village near Karak, Jordan, on Wednesday, February 4. Al-Kasasbeh's son, Jordanian pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh, was burned alive in a video that was recently released by ISIS militants. Jordan is one of a handful of Middle Eastern nations taking part in the U.S.-led military coalition against ISIS.
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A Kurdish marksman looks over a destroyed area of Kobani on Friday, January 30, after the city had been liberated from the ISIS militant group. The Syrian city, also known as Ayn al-Arab, had been under assault by ISIS since mid-September.
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Kurdish people celebrate in Suruc, Turkey, near the Turkish-Syrian border, after ISIS militants were expelled from Kobani on Tuesday, January 27.
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Collapsed buildings are seen in Kobani on January 27 after Kurdish forces took control of the town from ISIS.
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Junko Ishido, mother of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, reacts during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, January 23. ISIS would later kill Goto and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa.
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ISIS militants are seen through a rifle's scope during clashes with Peshmerga fighters in Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday, January 21.
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An elderly Yazidi man arrives in Kirkuk after being released by ISIS on Saturday, January 17. The militant group released about 200 Yazidis who were held captive for five months in Iraq. Almost all of the freed prisoners were in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect, Kurdish officials said.
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Smoke billows behind an ISIS sign during an Iraqi military operation to regain control of the town of Sadiyah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, on Tuesday, November 25.
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Fighters from the Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish People's Protection Units join forces to fight ISIS in Kobani on Wednesday, November 19.
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A picture taken from Turkey shows smoke rising after ISIS militants fired mortar shells toward an area controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters near Kobani on Monday, November 3.
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Iraqi special forces search a house in Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraq, on Thursday, October 30, after retaking the area from ISIS.
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ISIS militants stand near the site of an airstrike near the Turkey-Syria border on Thursday, October 23. The United States and several Arab nations have been bombing ISIS targets in Syria to take out the militant group's ability to command, train and resupply its fighters.
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Kurdish fighters walk to positions as they combat ISIS forces in Kobani on Sunday, October 19.
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Heavy smoke rises in Kobani following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on October 18.
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Cundi Minaz, a female Kurdish fighter, is buried in a cemetery in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc on Tuesday, October 14. Minaz was reportedly killed during clashes with ISIS militants in nearby Kobani.
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Kiymet Ergun, a Syrian Kurd, celebrates in Mursitpinar, Turkey, after an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Kobani on Monday, October 13.
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Alleged ISIS militants stand next to an ISIS flag atop a hill in Kobani on Monday, October 6.
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A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier who was wounded in a battle with ISIS is wheeled to the Zakho Emergency Hospital in Duhuk, Iraq, on Tuesday, September 30.
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Syrian Kurds wait near a border crossing in Suruc as they wait to return to their homes in Kobani on Sunday, September 28.
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A elderly man is carried after crossing the Syria-Turkey border near Suruc on Saturday, September 20.
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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter launches mortar shells toward ISIS militants in Zumar, Iraq, on Monday, September 15.
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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at ISIS militant positions from their position on the top of Mount Zardak, east of Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday, September 9.
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Displaced Iraqis receive clothes from a charity at a refugee camp near Feeshkhabour, Iraq, on Tuesday, August 19.
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Aziza Hamid, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, cries for her father while she and some other Yazidi people are flown to safety Monday, August 11, after a dramatic rescue operation at Iraq's Mount Sinjar. A CNN crew was on the flight, which took diapers, milk, water and food to the site where as many as 70,000 people were trapped by ISIS. But only a few of them were able to fly back on the helicopter with the Iraqi Air Force and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
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Thousands of Yazidis are escorted to safety by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and a People's Protection Unit in Mosul on Saturday, August 9.
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Thousands of Yazidi and Christian people flee Mosul on Wednesday, August 6, after the latest wave of ISIS advances.
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A Baiji oil refinery burns after an alleged ISIS attack in northern Selahaddin, Iraq, on Thursday, July 31.
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A Syrian rebel fighter lies on a stretcher at a makeshift hospital in Douma, Syria, on Wednesday, July 9. He was reportedly injured while fighting ISIS militants.
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Children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants in Mosul on Tuesday, June 10.
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"The fight for Falluja is ongoing. Right now, the Iraqi Security Forces are approaching Falluja from three directions," he said.
"Essentially, they encircle the city, almost like a boa constrictor, and they will then squeeze in closer and closer into that city until eventually they are able to finally clear it, as we saw in Ramadi," Warren told reporters.
Falluja saw some of the harshest fighting between U.S. forces and ISIS' predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq, back in 2004. And it may prove to be a rallying point for jihadists once again.
Rebuilding a bombed-out city
The Iraqi military's success in Ramadi was notable for not relying on the Iranian-backed Shiite militias that were key to retaking the city of Tikrit from ISIS in March.
Photos: What do you miss the most?
Photos: What do you miss the most?
CNN talked to internally displaced Sunni families in western Baghdad about the items they were forced to leave behind as they fled from ISIS brutality in Anbar province.
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Yousif Hamed, 5, from Falluja – He misses his house and the plastic kiddy pool he used to play in.
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Abdullah Mahmoud, 7, from Ramadi – Playing soccer with his friends, his kiddy pool, his bicycle and the games on his phone, all of which he had to leave behind.
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Tabarak Mohammed, three-and-a-half, from Ramadi – The plastic cart that she used to push around, which was filled with toys.
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Rasha Amer, 35, from Ramadi – Her sewing machine: Rasha is a seamstress and says she loves the work.
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Yasemin Hakeem, 9, from Ramadi – Her clothes: Yasemin says her favorite items were a pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt, which her family didn't have time to grab as they fled.
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Bilal Hamed, 19, from Falluja – His soccer ball. Bilal tells CNN that he just wants to be able to go back to the city and play soccer in the stadium with his friends.
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Hassan Ali, 10, from Falluja – Laughing and playing with his friends -- as well as his bicycle and his Game Boy video game.
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Yara Ali, 3, from Falluja – A red doll. Yara says she was unable to bring the toy because it was "sleeping" when her family fled.
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Abdul Halim Ahmed, 35, from Ramadi – His motorcycle cart. Abdul says he used the cart to transport produce from one area to the other -- it was his means of making a living.
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"There were no Shia militias involved in this operation for Ramadi," Warren said.
That approach was seen as vital to avoiding an escalation of the sectarian tensions that have helped ISIS' Sunni extremism gain such a stubborn foothold in parts of Iraq.
Iraq's Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad is hoping that by bringing local Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province into the political process, it can help prevent Ramadi and other areas from slipping back into ISIS' grasp.
Local officials will face a raft of challenges to rebuilding the ruined city, where the U.S.-led coalition says it has carried out more than 630 airstrikes in the campaign to retake it from ISIS since July.
The city, which tens of thousands of people fled during months of fighting, will need to restore basic infrastructure like electricity and running water, as well as its residents' sense of security.
