BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah from three directions on Monday, marking a new and perilous urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the militant Islamic State (IS) group’s bastion.
The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed.
Led by the elite counterterrorism service (CTS), the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.
“Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks,” Lt Gen Abdelwahab al Saadi, the commander of the operation, said.
“There is resistance” from the IS, he added.
The forces had not yet ventured into the city centre but had recaptured some areas in a southern suburb after crossing a bridge, and taken up positions on the eastern and northern fringes.
The involvement of the CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in the city where US forces fought in 2004 some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.
The operation had previously focused on retaking rural areas around Fallujah, 50km west of Baghdad.
It had been led by the Hashed al Shaabi paramilitary force, which is dominated by Iran-backed militias.
They were still in action, attempting to clear an area northwest of Fallujah, called Saqlawiya, officers said.
Civilians trapped
Only a few hundred families managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the militants could try to use them as human shield.
The only families able to flee so far lived in outlying areas, with the biggest wave of displaced reaching camps on Saturday night.
“Our resources in the camps are now very strained and with many more expected to flee we might not be able to provide enough drinking water for everyone,” said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Iraq director.
Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016
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