Baghdad: Following the Iraqi forces’ victory in Ramadi, here is a recap of key cities and towns in Iraq and Syria seized by Daesh or recaptured from them.

IRAQ

Ramadi: This city 100 kilometres west of Baghdad is the capital of Al Anbar, the country’s largest province, which stretches from the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to just west of the capital.

Daesh seized Ramadi in mid-May in an assault involving dozens of suicide bombers driving explosives-rigged vehicles. Iraqi troops retook Al Tameem, a large area on the southwestern side of the city on December 8 with support from US-led air strikes.

They reached the city centre on December 22, and drove Daesh fighters from their last stronghold in a government complex on the 27th, effectively sealing victory.

Tikrit: Hometown of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain located 160 kilometres north of Baghdad. It was recaptured in April by Iraqi troops, police and Iran-backed paramilitaries. The operation, at that time the largest by Iraqi forces against Daesh, was helped by the fact that much of Tikrit’s civilian population had fled the city.

Sinjar: Iraqi Kurdish forces backed by coalition strikes recaptured Sinjar, 400 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, from Daesh on November 13. That cut a key supply line to areas held by the terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Daesh captured Sinjar in August 2014 and carried out a brutal campaign against the Yazidi minority that included massacres, enslavement and rape.

Baiji: This town around 200 kilometres north of Baghdad and a nearby refinery, Iraq’s largest, were recaptured by Iraqi forces in mid-October.

Baiji was the scene of some of the longest-running battles with Daesh in Iraq. It lies at a major crossroads and its recapture was seen as key to preparing the ground for offensives in Al Anbar and later Mosul.

Mosul: Iraq’s second-biggest city and capital of Nineveh province, it is 350 kilometres north of Baghdad. Daesh captured it on June 10, 2014 and proclaimed it part of an Islamic “caliphate” that stretches into Syria. Two million people lived there before Daesh arrived, but hundreds of thousands have since left. Daesh still holds the city.

SYRIA

Raqqa: A northeastern city with 300,000 inhabitants, Raqqa has been Daesh’ de facto Syrian capital since January 2014. It is a major target of US-led coalition forces, and to a lesser extent, of strikes by Syrian and Russian forces.

Palmyra: This ancient Syrian city is 205 kilometres east of Damascus, and was taken by Daesh on May 21. The group has destroyed major archaeological features there that were on Unesco’s list of world heritage sites.

Kobani (Ain Al Arab): A Kurdish city in northern Syria on the Turkish border. It became a symbol of the fight against Daesh and marked the group’s first serious setback since it began to advance in the country in 2013. Daesh fighters were driven out of Kobani on January 26 after more than four months of fierce fighting with Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes.

The city is the capital of one of three semi-autonomous “cantons” that were established by Kurds after the Syrian crisis began.

Tal Abyad: Another city on the Turkish border, it was captured by Kurds on June 16, dealing Daesh one of its most serious defeats to date. Tal Abyad had 130,000 inhabitants when the Syrian conflict began in 2011, and controls a key supply route between Turkey and Raqqa. Daesh fighters and arms regularly passed through the city before its recapture.