Iraqi forces yesterday took control of the government complex in central Ramadi, the last Islamic State stronghold in the western city, a military spokesman said.

A Syrian opposition leader called on world leaders to take “immediate action” to end government attacks on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, amid reports that some 150 people have been killed in government airstrikes in the past 10 days.

Syrian government forces have launched a counter-attack to recapture a gas field seized by Islamic extremists, activists said, as the death toll from three days of fighting there rose to more than 200.