Only one-third of Fallujah cleared of Daesh
Iraqi forces still facing pockets of stiff resistance in city’s northern edge
BAGHDAD— Only a third of Fallujah has been “cleared” of Daesh militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years.
Other parts of the city are “contested,” said U.S. Army Col. Christopher Garver, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, with clashes underway between Iraqi forces and Daesh fighters.
Most of the cleared terrain is in the south of the city and “clearing operations continue outward from the city centre,” Garver added.
Iraqi forces pushed into the centre of Fallujah on Friday, retaking a government complex and the central hospital. That evening Brig. Gen. Haider al-Obedi told The Associated Press his troops controlled 80 per cent of the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider alAbadi said Friday that Fallujah had “returned to the embrace of the nation,” and that remaining Daesh pockets would be “cleaned out within hours.”
But in recent days there have been persistent clashes between Iraqi forces and fighters from Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, holed up in dense residential neighbourhoods along the city’s northern edge.
“What it looks like is (a Daesh) defensive belt around the city with not as stiff defences inside,” Garver said, explaining that as Iraqi forces move out from the city centre they may encounter additional pockets of stiff resistance. “That could be their toughest fighting.”
Iraqi commanders on the ground say their forces continue to make progress and have killed hundreds of militants.
Iraqi special forces backed by U.S.led airstrikes have taken control of the neighbourhoods of al-Shurta and al-Jughaifi, al-Obeidi told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said Iraqi military engineers were clear- ing the streets and buildings of leftover bombs.
The top special forces commander for the Fallujah operation told local al-Sumaria TV late Monday that the offensive killed 2,500 Daesh fighters. Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi offered no evidence to back up his claim. Iraqi troops have not disclosed their losses in Fallujah, though Daesh claims to have killed dozens.
The operation has fueled an exodus of thousands of families, overwhelming camps for the displaced run by the government and aid groups.
The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 85,000 people have fled Fallujah and the surrounding area since the offensive began. UNHCR spokeswoman Ariane Rummery said she expected that thousands more “could still be planning to leave the city” and appealed for more aid donations.
The U.S. State Department announced an additional $20 million in aid to UNHCR in response to appeals for emergency needs in Fallujah.
“This will be part of a larger package of humanitarian assistance that will be announced later this year, so there’s more aid coming,” spokesman John Kirby said.
Since 2014, the U.S. has sent more than $778 million in humanitarian aid to Iraq, according to the State Department.