Iraqi forces victorious in pushing out the Islamic State in Ramadi

The Islamic State group abandoned its last stronghold in Ramadi Sunday, effectively handing Iraqi forces their biggest victory since last year's massive jihadist nationwide offensive.

There were still parts of the flashpoint government complex the elite counter-terrorism service could not enter, as jihadists had rigged the entire area with explosives before retreating.

And while pockets of jihadists may remain, Iraqi forces said they no longer faced any resistance, and officials were already congratulating them for liberating Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.

"All Daesh (IS) fighters have left. There is no resistance," Sabah al-Numan, the counter-terrorism force's spokesman, told AFP.

The Islamic State group's fighters have all left the flashpoint former government compound in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, the spokesman of the elite counter-terrorism service said on Sunday.

"Our forces have surrounded the government complex. They are checking all entrances and surrounding buildings before moving in," al-Numan said.

"The operation is almost wrapped up. Our forces will enter in the coming hours," Numan said.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes had punched into the city centre on Tuesday, in a final push to retake the city they lost in May.

The fighting over the past two days had been concentrated around the former government complex, which IS fighters defended with snipers, suicide car bomb attacks and hundreds of roadside bombs and booby traps.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes had punched into the centre of Ramadi on Tuesday, in a final push to retake the city.

Fighting over the past two days had been concentrated around the government complex, whose recapture had become synonymous with victory in the battle for Ramadi.

According to medical sources, 93 members of the security forces were brought in with injuries on Sunday alone.

"The dead bodies are taken directly to the main military hospital" near the airport, said one hospital source.

At least five government fighters have been killed over the past two days alone, but no official has divulged any overall toll for the operation.

Estimates a week ago were that the Islamic State had around 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi, many of them protecting the government compound.

Those numbers were thought to have drastically declined over the past two days, with several fighters retreating from the main battle and dozens of others killed in fighting or in suicide attacks.

Ali Dawood, the head of the neighbouring Khaldiya council, said IS fighters used civilians as human shields to slip out of the government complex.

"Daesh fighters forced all the families living around the compound to go with them in order to flee towards Sichariyah, Sufiya and Jweiba," on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi, he said.

He had said on Saturday that more than 250 families had managed to escape the combat zones since the start of the operation and had been escorted to safety by the army.

Ramadi lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad and is the capital of Anbar, which is Iraq's largest province and borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.