Iraqi Forces Gear Up for Operation to Retake Fallujah
The Iraqi government appealed to residents of Fallujah on Sunday to prepare to leave the Islamic State stronghold ahead of a long-planned assault, even urging them to raise white flags at their houses if they couldn’t. The military’s Joint Operations Command said that civilian families would be allowed to leave the city through designated safe […]Ghassan Adnan and Asa Fitch write for The Wall Street Journal:
The Iraqi government appealed to residents of Fallujah on Sunday to prepare to leave the Islamic State stronghold ahead of a long-planned assault, even urging them to raise white flags at their houses if they couldn’t.
The military’s Joint Operations Command said that civilian families would be allowed to leave the city through designated safe passages, though it didn’t specify how departures from the city would be arranged.
The Iraqi army, counterterrorism forces, police, tribal fighters and Shiite militias would be taking part in the operation, according to the military. But it wasn’t clear when the assault would start on one of the Sunni extremist group’s last major territorial holdings in Iraq.
