BAGHDAD
Around 1,100 families displaced by recent violence in Ramadi, capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, have returned to their homes in the past three days following an appeal to do so by local authorities, a local official said Monday.
"Ramadi is now enjoying some stability after police were deployed around residential areas," Faleh al-Essawi, deputy head of Ramadi's provincial council, told Anadolu Agency.
"A special committee is currently assessing the damage from the military operation, which caused major damage to homes and property," al-Essawi said.
Since December, around 60,000 families have fled their homes in the violence-wracked province to neighboring areas, according to government figures.
The government has allocated roughly $18 million in urgent assistance to families whose homes were damaged in the recent military operation against local militants.
In December, the Iraqi army launched its offensive in Sunni-majority Anbar with the stated aim of flushing militants out of the key cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
Hundreds have been killed or injured since violence broke out in the two cities, according to government estimates.
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