Islamic State militants may be hours away from capturing key city of Ramadi in Iraq

Washington: The deputy head of the Anbar Provincial Council in Iraq has said that the Islamic State (IS) militants might be just hours away from taking over the key city of Ramadi, which lies 70 miles west of Baghdad.

According to CNN, Falih Essawi said that it is not clear as to for how long the government troops can hold their front lines against the IS offensive.

The city of Ramadi has been engulfed with fierce fighting.

Essawi said that the security was rapidly collapsing as he was on a front line himself, armed with a machine gun.

At least 150,000 people have fled Ramadi since Wednesday morning, causing huge traffic jams on the roads leading outside the city, according to Essawi.