BAGHDAD , Iraq -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Coalition troops on Monday formally handed over security control of Iraq 's Anbar province -- once the hub of the country 's Sunni insurgency , to Iraqis on Monday . A U.S. soldier on patrol in Ramadi 's market earlier this year . U.S. troops will remain in the province to support Iraqi forces . President George W. Bush described the transfer as a major victory against al-Qaeda extremists who once held sway in the area . `` Today , Anbar is no longer lost to al Qaeda -- it is al Qaeda that lost Anbar , '' he said in a statement . Once dominated by Sunni insurgents , Anbar has been the scene of many attacks on U.S.-led troops in Iraq . Now a bastion of tribal opposition , it is also the scene of an internal Sunni political struggle between the Iraqi Islamic Party , one of Iraq 's main Sunni parties , and the Awakening movement , the first anti-al Qaeda in Iraq movement established in the country . More than 25,000 U.S. troops serve in the sprawling Anbar province west of Baghdad ; most of them Marines . They will remain for the time being but will shift their mission to supporting Iraqi forces , when needed The transfer is a `` major progress '' for all of Iraq , said Brigadier Gen. David Perkins , the spokesman for the Multi-National Force in Iraq . The transfer ceremony took place in Ramadi , the capital of the western province , and was attended by Iraqi officials and U.S. military brass . Watch U.S. , Iraqi officials perform transfer '' `` We are all well aware of what the security situation was in Anbar even a year ago , '' Perkins said . `` And the fact that that has been able to be turned around , that the Iraqi citizens that live there want to stand up on their own , -LSB- that -RSB- they want to take control of the province on their own ... it 's a major progress not only for Anbar , but for all of Iraq . '' Anbar is the 11th of Iraq 's 18 provinces to revert to local security control , but is the first Sunni-dominated one . The move comes amid a big drop in violence in Iraq and calls from Iraqis for the United States to come up with a troop withdrawal timetable . The other provinces that have transitioned to Iraqi security control are Duhuk , Irbil and Sulaimaniya in the Kurdish region , and Karbala , Najaf , Qadisiya , Muthanna , Thiqar , Basra , and Maysan in the Shiite south . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh and Arwa Damon in Baghdad contributed to this report .