On May 23, Iraqi government forces, backed by a powerful Shiite militia and US-led airstrikes, started an onslaught to dislodge Islamic State from Fallujah, a main city of the mostly Sunni province.
Advertisement
Sabah al-Numani, a CTS spokesman, said on state television that snipers holed up inside the hospital, considered a nest of militants, were resisting but the facility was expected to be retaken within hours. The Islamic State’s most critical strongholds in Iraq are in the Sunni heartland in the west and north. It is the last major city in western Iraq to be held by the extremist group.
The first to escape IS rule were those living in rural outlying areas, in the early phase of the operation which saw a myriad different Iraqi forces seal the siege of the city. The offensive is led by elite federal police and Counter-Terrorism Service troops advancing along Baghdad Street that bisects the city, which had a population of 300,000 before it was seized by Isis in January 2014.
Special forces engaged with ISIS at a nearby hospital where it is believed some militants have set up a command centre on the third floor.
One senior Iraqi commander said support for the IS group among civilians is more widespread, and that once government forces move in, it will be hard to tell friend from foe.
“The Iraqis announced today that they had seized the Fallujah municipal building in roughly the center of Fallujah”, said Colonel Chris Garver, the US military spokesman in Baghdad.
Addressing Falluja’s residents, Prime Minister Abadi said in his speech: “We want there to be security and peace in this city for you to go back to live there”.
An internally displaced woman arrives to a camp outside Fallujah, Iraq, on Monday.
Most residents have evacuated the city although it is estimated that up to 90,000 could still remain – just a third of the 2010 population – according to the United Nations, living in increasingly desperate conditions with little food or water, aid agencies say.
Iraq launched a major operation on May 23 to retake Falluja, a bastion of the Sunni Muslim insurgency against USA forces that toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003, and Shi’ite-led governments that followed.
He said he had seen estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 civilians from the city and surrounding area had left the area in recent days as the fighting increased.
The latest wave of displacement brings to 3.3 million the number of Iraqis made homeless by conflict across the country since the beginning of 2014.
Aid agencies said there was a dramatic surge of civilians out of Fallujah overnight and that they were struggling to provide even the most basic assistance to those displaced.
After the seizure of the municipal compound, Iraqi government forces control about one-quarter of the city, the Pentagon said.
Obeidi claimed there were no civilians in the al-Nazzal neighbourhood.
Reports indicate that between 60,000 and 90,000 civilians remain in the city, without access to food or medical supplies. US officials said earlier this week it remained unclear how much support ISIS still had in the city from local Sunnis.
Advertisement
Local Sunni officials and human rights groups have accused Shiite militias of arresting, torturing and killing Sunnis who fled Fallujah and its outskirts.
