Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi said on Twitter that around 90 percent of Fallujah “is safe & habitable”, comparing the situation with two other cities that were largely leveled before troops recaptured them. Concern has been raised by the Sunni community in Iraq that many young men joined IS by coercion, and are now vulnerable to prosecution under the country’s strict anti-terror law.
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The military’s swift advance surprised many who anticipated a protracted battle for Fallujah, a bastion of Sunni Muslim insurgency where some of the fiercest fighting of the US occupation of Iraq took place in 2004 against Islamic State’s forerunner, al Qaeda. Al Hayat stated that many of them provided valuable intelligence about IS troops, while simultaneously seeking a pardon.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave a televised speech from Fallujah to celebrate the victory, making it clear the next target was Mosul, which is the last big city controlled by ISIS.
Iraqi forces seized the IS group’s last positions in Fallujah on Sunday, establishing full control over one of the jihadists’ most emblematic bastions after a month-long operation.
Al-Abadi initially declared victory in Fallujah over a week ago, after Iraqi forces advanced into the city center and took control of a government complex.
Dozens of homes were looted and burned as Fallujah was liberated from the Islamic State militant group, and Iraqi government forces Monday accused the retreating militants.
Special forces Cpl. Mohammad Hussein, stationed at a makeshift base in the city center, said his men arrested a half-dozen people who were caught looting.
The offensive began on May 22-23 with an initial phase of staging operations aimed at tightening a months-old siege on Falluja and led by the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary organisation dominated by Tehran-backed Shia militias.
Retaking the city has prompted a humanitarian crisis, as thousands of civilians fled their homes during the fighting and are now living in refugee camps outside the city. Officials have called for more funds to meet mounting needs.
Schembri said clearing away the bombs could take anywhere from days to months.
“We still have an ongoing fight northwest of Fallujah”. At the height of its power, it was estimated to hold almost a third of each country. A similar scenario is expected to play out in the Mosul campaign, because the various groups that make up Iraq’s security forces – including Kurdish forces known as the peshmerga – have all vowed to participate in the complex operation.
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More than 3.3 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the IS advance, according to United Nations figures.
