Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced the start of a military operation to retake Falluja from so-called Islamic State (IS), reports BBC.
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Deputy District Council Chairman Falih al-Essawi said three corridors would be opened for civilians to camps west, southwest and southeast of the city, and a subsequent military statement said some residents had begun to flee.
Iraqi forces have launched a major assault to retake Fallujah, the scene of deadly battles during the U.S. occupation and one of the toughest targets yet in Baghdad’s war on the Islamic State group.
The military statement gave no timeline for the operation but said counterterrorism forces, police, tribal fighters and popular mobilization units – which include an array of Shiite militias – will be involved.
The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The additional Green Zone security has caused massive traffic jams in the Iraqi capital, home to more than seven million people.
Fallujah is nearly completely surrounded by Iraqi forces, who have regained significant ground in the Anbar province in recent months, including its capital Ramadi further up the Euphrates River valley.
Backed by US-led air support, the Iraqi army is fighting back against ISIS.
But the battle for Fallujah – a city that has always been a Sunni insurgent stronghold and which IS has had some two years to reinforce – will be one of the toughest challenges they have yet faced.
Iraqi ground troops have made gains against IS across the country, recently capturing the town of Rutba, 240 miles west of Baghdad.
Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi.
Iraqi forces have always been gearing up for Mosul’s recapture, which is expected to be complex in part because of its size: Mosul has a population of around 1 million, about three times the size of Fallujah’s before Islamic State took the city.
Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Mr Abadi, said the city’s “liberation” would help restore normal life to Anbar province, over which Islamic State took almost complete control in 2014.
Iraqi security forces called on residents to flee, but IS-manned checkpoints on the routes leading out of Fallujah make escape impossible for many, says The Guardian.
In November 2004, U.S. forces led a coalition attack against several thousand insurgents in Fallujah in which thousands of buildings were destroyed in house-to-house fighting.
Islamic State has been in control of Fallujah since early 2014.
Iraq’s political crisis has left the government deadlocked as security forces struggle to fight the Islamic State group.
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After liberating Ramadi, the government has said that its ultimate aim is to now reclaim Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
