Aid group: 12000 Iraqis flee battle for Fallujah

Iraqi forces have recently stalled offensive operations against Islamic State (ISIS/IS/ISIL) jihadists at Fallujah’s outskirts, as concerns over the ultimate fate of trapped civilians and resistance from the jihadist group slowed their advance. Most of these families moved to two camps while others sought refuge with relatives and extended families. The Joint Operations Command said a US-led coalition air strike had hit a boatload of ISIS fighters attempting to flee Fallujah along the Euphrates river, killing all on board. The terrorist group forced the Iraqi military to stop their advancement to launch a series of counter-attacks. The pace of ground operations is likely to become even slower in the summer’s searing heat and during the coming holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims often fast during the day.

Iraqi forces have retaken most of the territory around the city, but are facing heavy resistance while pushing toward the center. Those fighters are believed to include many foreign jihadis who are considered better-trained that the ones in towns that have been retaken in recent months.

Falluja has been a bastion of the insurgency that fought both the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shia-led Baghdad government. “Some commanders have suggested this northern route could instead be used for the push into Fallujah, if the fight in the south remains bogged down”.

That suggests a long fight for the city less than an hour’s drive west of Baghdad.

Bombings in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad have killed 15 people and wounded more than 40. To communicate with Fallujah’s residents, coalition aircraft dropped leaflets telling those who can not leave the city to affix white sheets on their rooftops to mark their locations, Warren said.

The Iraqi Army and Shiite militias, backed by U.S. airstrikes, launched the offensive to retake Fallujah on May 22.

The Iraqi military operations command of Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, is dominated by a Shi’ite militia leader, Abu Mehdi Mohandis, according to a current USA military officer, an Iraqi security official and three Iraqi officials who monitor the province. Smoke rose Friday from a cluster of factories and industrial buildings in the area.

As the offensive on Fallujah began May 23, IS supporters took to social media to reinforce the narrative.

In the latest issue of IS’s propaganda magazine, Dabiq, the group argues that Shiites are now ready for a full-on “war” against Iraq’s Sunnis after years of assassinating “scholars, intellectuals, doctors and engineers”.

Fallujah, part of the Sunni heartland of western Iraq, has always been a bastion of bitterness toward the Shiite-led central government in Baghdad that emerged after the 2003 USA invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The next US president will be the fifth in a row with troops fighting in Iraq. It said that during three days of fighting, 26 Islamic State fighters and nine troops and pro-government gunmen were killed. The militias have been accused of abusing Sunni civilians in past operations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has confirmed it is backing Shiite militias in Iraq against IS.

“The gap is big enough to allow military vehicles to go through it”, Mr. Issawi said, adding that the units were “awaiting orders to break into Fallujah city”. Much of the Iraqis’ equipment needs to be repaired or replaced, and many Iraqi units will require additional training before attacking Mosul.

The Iraqis’ offensive to retake Fallujah, supported by USA -led coalition airstrikes, began May 23.

The Journal’s story highlights the hard choice between allowing Iranian influence in the region, which could bring even more sectarian division along with it or increasing United States military involvement to defeat the terrorist groups the militias are now targeting in the Middle East.

But they have so far been unable to reach the city centre and battle IS fighters in the streets of one of their historical strongholds.