The New York Times: Islamic State militants on Friday afternoon seized the main government headquarters in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s western Anbar Province, and raised their black flag before setting fire to the compound.

The capture of the building, even as it was too early to declare that the entire city had fallen to the Islamic State, appeared to represent a significant shift in the back-and-forth battle for Ramadi that has unfolded for nearly a year and a half in Iraq.

Over that time, many areas had been contested between government forces and the militants — but until Friday the Islamic State had never controlled the provincial capital’s headquarters building. Officials also said the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, also had seized the main police building in Ramadi.