“Iraqi forces have regained control of al-Shuhada neighborhood in southern Fallujah after fierce clashes with ISIL militants”, al-Duleimi said.
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But the counterterrorism forces, the best-trained in the Iraqi army, have met stiff resistance inside the city, where they say the militants have dug a network of tunnels allowing them to launch surprise attacks on advancing troops.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last week that the army slowed down the pace of the offensive because of fears for the safety of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the city with limited access to water, food and healthcare.
The video comes as Iraqi forces declared that they were just days away from retaking Fallujah from the control of ISIS.
“We’re expecting another big fight like this one before Fallujah falls”, the officer said, explaining that he anticipated Iraqi forces would encounter another heavily fortified neighborhood.
The montage, called “Fallujah, the City of Steadfastness”, is filmed through GoPro cameras attached to militants’ heads.
He continued: “Eyewitnesses have described how armed groups operating in support of the Iraqi security forces are intercepting people fleeing the conflict, separating the men and teenage boys from the women and children, and detaining the males for ‘security screening.'”.
In Syria and Iraq, government forces have gained more grounds and advanced on multiple fronts against Islamic State group.
This is the first time in two years that Iraqi forces have entered Fallujah, which was captured by ISIL in early 2014.
It is symbolically important to both sides: Many of the Iraqi forces fought al-Qaida in Iraq – the predecessor to IS – in this same territory, and the city was the scene of some of the bloodiest urban combat with USA forces in 2004.
The findings are partly based on interviews with the local councilmen of Saqlawiyah, a suburb of Fallujah.
Assad’s remarks in parliament came as his opponents, backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are struggling for survival and his troops have nearly encircled rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.
“The situation inside Fallujah is not stable”, he told NBC News.
‘In the coming days, we will declare the liberation of Fallujah. “The shedding of blood will not end until we uproot terrorism, wherever it is”.
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Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj contributed from Baghdad.
