AKIPRESS.COM - Islamic State militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday in the biggest defeat for the Baghdad government since last summer, reports Reuters.

In a statement, the group said it had seized tanks and killed "dozens of apostates", its description for members of the Iraqi security forces.

Ramadi is the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi signed off on the deployment of Shi'ite militias to attempt to seize back the area, a move he previously resisted for fear of provoking a sectarian backlash.

Earlier, security sources said government forces evacuated a key military base after it came under attack by the insurgents, who had already taken one of the last districts still holding out.

It was the biggest victory for Islamic State in Iraq since security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups began pushing the militants back last year, aided by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition.

The U.S. Defense Department, while not confirming the fall of Ramadi, sought to play down the impact on the broader Iraq military campaign of an Islamic State seizure of the city.

"Ramadi has been contested since last summer and ISIL now has the advantage," Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith said, using another acronym for Islamic State. She said the loss of the city would not mean the overall Iraq military campaign was turning in Islamic State's favor, but acknowledged it would give the group a "propaganda boost."

"That just means the coalition will have to support Iraqi forces to take it back later," Smith said, adding that the United States was continuing to provide it air support and advice.