Iraq Says Military Has Retaken Central Fallujah From Islamic State
Iraqi security forces raised the national flag in Fallujah on Friday, claiming control over the center of the city that was the first to fall to Islamic State when it blitzed across the country two years ago. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi celebrated the advance on national television but stopped short of declaring complete victory in […]Tamer El-Ghobashy and Nour Malas report for The Wall Street Journal:
Iraqi security forces raised the national flag in Fallujah on Friday, claiming control over the center of the city that was the first to fall to Islamic State when it blitzed across the country two years ago.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi celebrated the advance on national television but stopped short of declaring complete victory in the nearly month-old offensive against one of the Sunni extremist group’s two remaining strongholds in Iraq—and the closest to Baghdad.
The military said it was still battling pockets of militants in outlying districts, as desperate civilians fled the fighting.
“Fallujah has returned to the embrace of the country,” Mr. Abadi said. “We promised to liberate the city and now our heroic security forces fulfilled this promise.”
Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command in Baghdad, said hours earlier that they hoped “to cleanse the whole of Fallujah” in the next few days.
