Iraqi forces begin push into IS-controlled city
Islamic State has held key Iraq city for over two years.
Islamic State has held Fallujah for more than two years, and Iraqi fighters expect fierce resistance.
Elite CAMP TARIQ, IRAQ — Iraqi special forces began their push Monday into Fallujah, expecting to encounter the stiffest resistance yet in the campaign to free territory from the Islamic State group.
The city 40 miles west of Baghdad has been under militant control longer than any other part of Iraq, and Islamic State fighters have had more than two years to dig in. Net- works of tunnels like those found in other territory held by the militants have already been discovered in Fallujah’s northeastern outskirts.
The Iraqi troops are leading the assault on Fallujah, moving inward from the city’s southern edge in a column of armored Humvees.
Their advance is expected to be slow because tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in Fallujah and hidden bombs are believed to have been left throughout the city, according to special forces commanders at the scene.
“This is the decisive battle for us and for Daesh,” said Gen. Saad Harbiya, head of Fallujah operations for the Iraqi army, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
The offensive, supported by airstrikes from the U.S.- led coalition, was launched a week ago. In that time, other wings of Iraq’s security forces have cleared the city’s edges.
The predominantly Sunni city in Anbar province is one of the last major Islamic State strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the north and west, as well as Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.
Harbiya said Fallujah “is like the Kaaba” for the Islamic State group, referring to the most sacred Muslim site in the world in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The 500-700 Islamic State fighters holed up in Fallujah are expected to be some of the group’s best-trained, a special forces commander at the scene said.
The counterterrorism forces started pushing into Fallujah at dawn, said Brig. Haider al-Obeidi. He described the fighting as “fierce,” with the Islamic State deploying snipers and releasing a volley of mortar rounds on the Iraqi forces.
Humanitarian groups say that as the violence intensi- fies, their concerns for civilians trapped inside Fallujah mount.
“With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical,” said Nasr Muflahi, the coun- try director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, an interna- tional humanitarian group.
In past operations, Iraq’s Shiite militia forces have been accused of committing abuses against civilians in major- ity Sunni towns and cities. Sunni lawmakers already have accused the security forces of using indiscrimi- nate force that has endan- gered the more than 50,000 civilians estimated to be still inside Fallujah.
Shiite militia commanders have routinely rejected the accusations.
Islamic State extremists, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings Monday in and around the Baghdad that killed at least 24 people. Iraqi officials say the bombings are an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces’ attention from the front lines.