An estimated 50,000 civilians remained trapped in Fallujah city however, as well as twice that number along Syria’s border with Turkey as a result of an IS sweep near Aleppo.
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Their involvement marks a new phase in the Fallujah operation. The deadliest attack took place in Tarmiya, a town 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad, where a booby-trapped house exploded as security forces entered during a search, killing five troops and wounding three others, the police said. “Our forces have isolated and surrounded the city of Fallujah”.
USA artillery batteries at a nearby base have lobbed shells onto Islamic State positions, and more than 20 airstrikes in and around the city have killed 70 fighters, Warren said.
Earlier this week, Iraqi forces launched the offensive on Fallujah.
Warren said ISIS will do what it can to prevent large numbers of civilians from fleeing the city because their standard practice is to use local populations as human shields.
Earlier this week Iraq’s prime minister announced the military operation in a statement. “One man’s leg was amputated reportedly”, she added.
Fallujah was the site of two bloody battles against USA forces in 2004.
In 2012, Fallujah was the heart of an anti-government protest movement that mobilized tens of thousands across Sunni areas. After that they kept moving, 30km on to the Al Iraq camp.
Between 500 and 700 IS militants are in Falluja, according to a USA military estimate.
The UN says hundreds of families were able to flee the city on Friday with the help of government forces.
This week, as the fighting intensified, food and water are becoming even harder to find, residents told the AP by phone and the internet.
The five fighters were arrested inside the city of Fallujah, and the Sharia Court made a decision to execute them publicly on charges of “high treason”.
The United Nations said that there have been reports of several people dying of starvation and being killed for refusing to fight for ISIS. At least four terrorists were also killed in the army operation.
“It’s going to be a major obstacle, how to secure the civilians, because we care about gaining the trust of the civilians that we are liberating”, Askari said. But reports suggest IS checkpoints along main roads in the city are hampering residents’ escape efforts. Ahmed’s family retrieved the body and buried him in the garden next to their home. “We hope the security will be increased and the government forces will continue to advance”.
The traditionally Sunni-dominated city now finds itself advanced on by troops representing the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, supported by Shiite militias.
Fallujah is one of IS’s most important bastions. “Now they are caught in the crossfire with no safe way out”, he said. The tactic makes airstrikes more hard.
“There’s clearly a threat given the proximity”, Dunford said, “and so what the Iraqis are doing is taking appropriate action to disrupt that threat and to isolate the enemy that’s inside of Fallujah”. But for the militants in Fallujah, “there’s no withdrawal route”.
Iraqi Shi’ite militias involved with the offensive against Fallujah say they have been told the ground offensive against the city will begin in “days not weeks”.
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“Our plans are humanitarian plans”, Harbiya said.
