Iraq - Fallujah assault

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/30052016
Iraqi forces have reportedly entered Fallujah, following completion of the second step of their offensive.
The Iraqi army and Shiite militia (Hashd al-Shabi) forces are involved in the operations.
Iraqi Army and Shiite militias had been trying to get inside the city.
ISIS militants had done their best, with heavy weapons in their possession, to prevent the Iraqi forces from entering the city.
ISIS also used civilians as human shields and prevented them from fleeing the city.
Most of the forces participating in the offensive are Hashd al-Shaabi gunmen.
They say that they have chosen a holy path, just like Imam Hussein, and they will regard themselves as martyr if they get killed.
(More martyrs? Oh dear, this does not bode well.)
 
First report of resistance ...Islamic State group hits back as Iraqi army moves into Falluja - BBC News
Islamic State group hits back as Iraqi army moves into Falluja
Lt Gen Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the overall commander of the Falluja operation, told AFP news agency around 100 IS fighters had taken part in the attack and 75 of them had been killed.

"They came at us heavily armed but did not use car bombs or suicide bombers," he said.

But two officers with special forces in the area told the Associated Press news agency that the jihadists had sent out six explosives-laden cars, none of which reached their targets.

IS also used snipers and tunnels in the attack, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

IS claims to be successfully repelling the Iraqi army offensive against it in Falluja, providing battle footage and images as evidence.

Last week, the group highlighted what it said was the impact of the offensive on civilians in the city, releasing footage of severely-injured children that was then widely shared on social media. The group typically shows images of civilian casualties to undermine anti-IS military campaigns.

Although IS has not commented on civilians trapped in the city in the latest offensive, it has in the past warned Sunni Muslims against leaving IS-held territory.

And last week its spokesman, Abu-Muhammad al-Adnani, said that IS militants would "fight to the death" in all its strongholds even if it meant the death of civilians - indicating that the group will pursue a scorched earth policy.

As such, it is unlikely that IS would allow civilians to leave Falluja. The UN refugee agency says families have reported being used as human shields by IS, forced to move with militants from one location to another.
 
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/w...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
The battle for Falluja has become entrenched outside the city itself. Iraqi forces surrounding the area have been bogged down by a fierce Islamic State counterattack.
Statements that commanders gave to the news media on Monday falsely asserted that they had entered the city and were fighting for it. But on Tuesday it was clear that their advance had stalled in the face of stiff resistance from the Islamic State.
The battle for Falluja has caught the public’s attention after a stretch of political turmoil that saw protesters storm Baghdad’s Green Zone and Parliament. Accordingly, the battle is also being waged in the Iraqi news media, and the various forces involved have all kept up a patter of statements claiming battlefield successes that, in some cases like on Monday, have yet to happen.

(Nice to know where American taxpayer's dollars are going ... )
 
13 year olds in the middle of this - http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/310520161
Though Shiite militia commanders say that civilians are not been targeted by the attacks, according to some reports tens of civilians have been killed and hundreds more wounded by Iraqi Army and Shiite militia since the operation started.

13-years-old Hassan who joined the Shiite militia to battle ISIS on the fatwa of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, says that with the help of Imam Hussein, his bullets reach ISIS militants and kill them.
 
PressTV-'Iran advisors in Iraq on govt. request'
Iranians making sure everyone knows they're the good guys saving Iraq (how many advisors are there in Iraq? more then Iraqi soldiers I guess!)
Odd story ... has Iranian media claimed to much of the glory for their boys?
http://www.iraqinews.com/features/iraqi-council-ministers-calls-states-not-interfere-fallujah-issue/
The Information Office of the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today the Council of Ministers renewed its full support for our security forces in the liberation of the city of Fallujah and the rest of the Iraqi territories.”

The statement added, “The Council considered the victories achieved in the liberation operations of Fallujah as a victory for all Iraqis,” pointing out that, “These victories contributed significantly to the unification and cohesion of the national situation.”

The statement continued, “The Council of Ministers called all the countries of the world to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and not to interfere in its internal affairs including the Fallujah issue as an Iraqi city,” indicating that, “The Council of Ministers also called some Arab media to stop inciting sedition and transferring false images and news.”
 
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http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/010620161
As the battle for Fallujah intensifies, civilians trapped by the fighting are forced to bury their dead inside their homes.

"Due to (aerial) bombings and the Iraqi joint forces' assaults on Fallujah, a large number of civilians have died," said a Rudaw reporter from the scene. "Those killed in bombings have been buried in their homes, because they cannot leave their houses due to the intensity of the bombings,” he said.
...
To reach Fallujah, the Iraqi army has to clear Saqlawia first and negotiate a myriad of roadside bombs and ISIS suicide bombers before reaching the center of Fallujah.

“We are around Saqlawia and the military and Hashd forces are continuing to make progress,” a military commander told Rudaw.

“ISIS fighters are just 200 meters away from us and they are weak. There are just three or four ISIS militants in there," he added.
(just 3 or 4 ISIS militants?! )
 
Ahhh ... now we get why the Iraqi's don't like certain foreign media, the number of casualties from the Iraqi army and Shia milita.
Battle for Fallujah: Iraqi troops die in ISIL attacks
Reports say at least 130 Iraqi soldiers have been killed in a series of attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group near the city of Fallujah in Anbar province.

The first attack happened at dawn on Wednesday when 10 suicide bombers belonging to ISIL, also known as ISIS, hit the town of Kubaisah, before storming the nearby village of Al Sejar, and then attacked an army convoy to the south of Fallujah at Amiriyat al-Fallujah with roadside bombs, military sources told Al Jazeera.

However, a member of the security forces posted outside Najaf's Valley of Peace, where many from Iraq's Shia majority bury their dead, told the AFP news agency that it had "received about 70 fighters, probably a bit more".

Officials in Basra said the southern province had lost 26 fighters from Shia units belonging to the Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella group.

Medics also reported many wounded from the battle for Fallujah. Since Monday, just two of Baghdad's hospitals received 97, AFP reported.
 
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/f...unces-killing-50-isis-members-south-fallujah/
The commander of Fallujah Liberation Operations, Lieutenant General Abdel Wahab al-Saadi, announced on Thursday, that 50 ISIS members were killed in violent clashes in southern Fallujah.

Saadi added, “Today the security forces clashed with members of the so-called ISIS between the areas of al-Shuhadaa and al-Nuaimiya in southern Fallujah, resulting in the killing of 50 ISIS members.”

“The security force are advancing in the liberation operations in Saqlawiyah north of Fallujah, in order to control it completely,” Saadi added.
(no mention of Iraqi casualties ...)
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/020620162
The Iraqi army, supported by Shiite militia units and US-led coalition warplanes, is stalled at the edges of Fallujah after more than one week of fighting and blames ISIS’ use of human shields for the slow progress.

“It would’ve been possible to end the battle quickly if protecting civilians wasn’t one of the foundations of our plan,” Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi said on state television.

In a visit to the frontline, Abadi praised the army’s progress and vowed that government troops will “hoist the Iraqi flag inside Fallujah in the coming few days.”

The army has not released any official casualty figures.
 
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This shows how messed up it is in Iraq - http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/03062016
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Tehran will not cooperate with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), arguing that trusting America would be “a big mistake.”

For Tehran, Khamenei said, cooperating with America goes “against independence” of Iran.

Iran, Khamenei said, has “many small and big enemies, but foremost among them are America,” Britain and Israel.

Both the US and Iran fight ISIS in the region and both countries have backed the Iraqi government in its efforts to retake lost territories from the extremist group.

However Iran also backs the Shiite militias in the fight against ISIS, something the US has avoided doing.

In Syria the Iranian regime backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The US has refused to work with Assad against ISIS and instead supports a Syrian Kurdish-led coalition against ISIS in that country.
 
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/030620161
Gains made against ISIS on three fronts, says US spokesman
Local troops, supported by international forces, are making gains on three key fronts against the Islamic State said Col. Patrick Ryder, a US Central Command spokesperson, on Friday.
The campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) in Fallujah is in a similar stage of isolation, Ryder confirmed, noting that Iraqi forces “continue operations to clear the outskirts of the city.”

The US-led coalition has conducted 65 airstrikes against ISIS in and around Fallujah, hitting 20 ISIS weapons caches and “more than 300 enemy fighters.”

ISIS is putting up strong resistance in the city, using their traditional tactics of IEDs, suicide bombers, and tunnels.

Ryder said that the international forces expect ISIS is fighting hard to hold onto the city for three reasons: the Anbar population centres are an important “revenue source and base of operations” for the group; the region’s road networks connect Syria with Iraq, Baghdad especially; and it is a symbolic location as the first Iraqi city the militant group took and “it remains one of their last major strongholds in the Anbar province.”
 
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/i...s-prominent-sniper-saqalawiya-north-fallujah/
A security source in Baghdad Operations Command said on Friday, that the security forces arrested the most prominent ISIS sniper in the vicinity of al-Saqalawiya in Anbar Province.

The source said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a force belonging to Baghdad Operations Command was able to arrest the most prominent ISIS sniper [in] al-Saqalawiya, known as Falah Ibrahim al-Turkawi, during a security operation that was carried out on the outskirts of al-Saqalawiya vicinity north of the city of Fallujah,” adding that, “The security force has taken the detainee to the troops at the rear [lines] in order to conduct the necessary investigations.”
(would not like to be him ... )
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/i...senior-isis-leader-saqalawiya-north-fallujah/
The commander of Baghdad Operations, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir al-Shammari, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The Army Aviation conducted an aerial strike on one of the ISIS shelters in the center of al-Saqalawiya (north of Fallujah).”

He added, “The strike resulted in killing one of the ISIS leaders known as Abu Bshir al-Sudani,” stressing, “We are Only 600 meters away from the center of al-Saqalawiya.”
 
The battle for Falluja: 'If they lose it, Isis is finished'
Standing in his undershirt on the patio of a house commandeered by his men, Colonel Thair Kana’an, of the federal police, claimed with grim pragmatism that the Iraqi forces were learning better how to take the fight to Isis. “We are losing more men, but it’s more effective,” he said.
...
“The Sunnis haven’t yet realised that they have lost power,” said Thair, alluding to perceived grievances since the fall of Saddam, under whom the Sunni minority held power.

“They are like a rich boy who can’t face poverty. Look at their fertile land: why did they need to bring all that destruction? But I tell you, it’s [been] one continuous battle for 1,400 years.”
 
PressTV-Iraq liberates key city near Fallujah
Iraqi armed forces have fully liberated a key city in the embattled Anbar Province as they continue to gain more ground in their military operations to retake the Daesh-held city of Fallujah.

The Baghdad Operations Command said Saturday that the city of Saqlawiyah, located north of Fallujah, is now under full control of Iraqi soldiers.

Over the past two weeks, the Iraqi army has been engaged in large-scale military operations to wrest back control of Fallujah. Iraqi forces have freed most areas around the city, but are facing heavy resistance during their advances.

Elsewhere, on the battlefield south of Fallujah, heavy clashes broke out between Iraqi troops and Daesh terrorists, who launched an attack targeting units of security forces deployed in the area.

Reports say 27 Daesh terrorists were killed and several others injured in the clashes. The Takfiri militants were forced to retreat into Fallujah after suffering heavy losses at the hands of Iraqi forces. Some 14 Daesh terrorists also died in the airstrikes targeting militant hideouts in support of army operations on the ground.No report of casualties among Iraqi forces is available.

but ... Oops!
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/040620161
ISIS left Fallujah 60 days ago, claims Anbar tribal leader
Local officials in the Fallujah region claimed that ISIS left the city 60 days ago and those fighting the Iraqi security forces are residents of the city who have no ties to ISIS but are terrified of the Shiite militia groups who have been caught on video torturing refugees who fled the city.

"It has been 60 days since ISIS has withdrawn from Fallujah, and the residents fear what [Shiite militia] Hashd al-Shaabi militants might do to them,” Raad Sleman, a Sheikh from the tribes of Anbar, told Rudaw.

“We have informed the Iraqi government. Those who are fighting inside Fallujah are the residents,” Sleman claimed.

He added that they have proof that the Shiite militias are mistreating the families of Fallujah, a predominantly Sunni city.

Video footage showing members of the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shaabi torturing refugees from Fallujah has gone viral on social media and angered many people of Iraq, especially Sunnis.

Sleman blames Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for the torture the refugees are suffering, saying that Abadi is a weak person and not suitable for the post of prime minister.

Shiite militia leaders deny the accusations of mistreatment. Kareem Noori, a spokesperson for the militia group, told Rudaw, “Hashd al-Shaabi militants are treating the residents very well, and there have been no violations.”

“Fallujah residents have no links to ISIS,” Noori added.

The governor of Anbar agrees. Sofean Essawi, media advisor for tribal matters of Anbar province, told Rudaw that Anbar governor Suhaib Rawi has followed the situation of the refugees closely, and said that no violations have been committed by Shiite militias against Fallujah families.
 
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So who are these people being killed then?
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/security-forces-kill-27-isis-members-southern-fallujah/
The commander of Anbar Operations Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi announced on Saturday foiling an attack launched by the so-called ISIS in southern Fallujah, while pointed out that 27 ISIS members were killed in the during the attack.

Mahalawi said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, ISIS members attacked the security troops in Albu Hoy area in southern Fallujah.”

Mahalawi added, “The attack resulted in the killing of 27 ISIS members, as well as inflicting material losses on them and forcing them to retreat.”
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/anti-terrorism-forces-storm-fallujah-city/
On Saturday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that the Anti-Terrorism forces had stormed the city of Fallujah from the southern axis.

The journalists said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today the Anti-Terrorism forces stormed the city of Fallujah from the southern axis and retook al-Nuaimiya area.”

Earlier today the commander of Baghdad Operations Major General Abdel Amir al-Shimari announced, that the security forces stormed the center of al-Saqlawiyah vicinity and raised the Iraqi flag over it.
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/6...qlawiyah-federal-police-advances-2-km-3-axes/
The Federal Police Command announced on Saturday, that the security forces killed 67 ISIS fighters in al-Saqlawiyah in northern Fallujah and advanced into the center of Saqlawiyah from three axes.

The Federal Police Command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Federal Police forces managed to kill 67 ISIS fighters, including eight foreign snipers during the liberation battles in the axes of Saqlawiyah (20 km north of Fallujah).”

The statement added, “The security forces were also able to destroy 23 ISIS targets and advanced into the center of al-Saqlawiyah from three axes.”
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/f...-fighters-since-starting-fallujah-operations/
The Federal Police Command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Federal Police forces managed to kill 402 ISIS fighters, including 41 snipers since the start of the liberation battles of Fallujah,” indicating that, “Five booby-trapped bulldozers and 23 vehicles carrying mono machine guns had been destroyed.”

The statement added, “The security forces were able to destroy 61 vehicles and seven laboratories for manufacturing IEDs and booby-trapped vehicles, as well as detonating 604 explosive devices and dismantling ten booby-trapped buildings.”

(I'm getting a feeling that someone's not telling us the whole truth ... :rolleyes: )
 
Iraq: Bombings kill 15 in and around Baghdad
In a separate development, the Iraqi army reported it managed to chase out the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group from a suburb of Fallujah, which lies just 50km west of Baghdad, after fierce clashes.

Government troops were backed by US-led air strikes as they retook Saqalawiya on Saturday, some 7km northwest of Fallujah, colonel Mohammed Abd, an army commander in western Iraq, told DPA news agency.

"Security forces raised the Iraqi flag in the suburb after pushing deep into the area and killing at least 27 Daesh elements," he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.

Also on Saturday, at least 34 Iraqi soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by ISIL in the same area.
The first attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday, as the armed group mounted an attack with a suicide car bomber targeting Iraqi army and Shia fighters to the south east of Fallujah city, killing at least 14 soldiers and 15 injuring others.

Later in the day, 20 Iraqi soldiers, including Sunni tribal fighters, were killed in an ISIL suicide car bombing targeting an Iraqi army convoy at the main road of Al-Azrakiyah, northwest of Fallujah city, according to Iraqi military sources talking to Al Jazeera.

The blast was followed by an ISIL assault on the convoy which resulted in the destruction of 15 military vehicles.

(Al Jazeera seems to be the only one quoting Iraqi casualties.)
 
Iraq violence: Civilians 'shot by IS as they flee Falluja' - BBC News
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said families it had interviewed described people being shot dead by IS as they crossed the Euphrates River.
Shakir al-Essawi, the head of Falluja's regional council, told Reuters people were trying to cross the Euphrates in refrigerators, cupboards and barrels.
Iraq's army said on Sunday it had all but encircled Falluja, with only the western bank of the Euphrates not under its control.

The latest area secured by Iraq's military, with the help of US-led air strikes, was the southern district of Naymiyah, Associated Press reported.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last week that the offensive had been slowed down to protect people still inside Falluja.

Other Iraqi officials have said IS is offering stiff resistance as troops push towards the city centre.

In other developments:

  • the Agence France-Presse agency reported on Sunday that a mass grave containing up to 400 bodies, thought to be soldiers killed by IS in 2014 and 2015, was found in the town of Saqlawiya, north of Falluja
  • at least four people drowned as their boat sank while they were trying to flee across the Euphrates
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/050620161
A top military official of the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shaabi announced Sunday that his group’s mission in Fallujah has been completed.
“There is a cooperation between the security forces and the Shiite militia to save the lives of the civilians and the administration of the nearby areas have been handed over to the Anbar police office, ”said Abu Mahdi Muhandis, the deputy chairman of the group.
“60,000 people are still trapped in those areas, and more than 3,000 managed to flee,” Muhandis added.
Regarding the war with ISIS he said that “an intense fight has occurred between us and ISIS.”
“The role of Hashd al-Shaabi is to support the security forces, and if they order us we will enter Fallujah,” he added.
The United Nations reported that ISIS has moved families to the center of the city to serve as a buffer between the militants and the Iraqi forces.
While people are fleeing ISIS strong-holds inside Fallujah, a video footage that went viral on social media shows Hashd militants treating the men inside Fallujah as hostages and transferring them with blindfolds.
 
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http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/4...nal-killed-security-operation-north-fallujah/
The Federal Police Command announced on Sunday liberating two areas from ISIS north of Fallujah, while pointed out to the killing of four ISIS elements, including a Chinese national, during the liberation operation.

The Federal Police captain, Lt. Gen. Raed Shaker Jawdat, said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a force belonging to the Fourth Commandoes Regiment of the Federal Police advanced from al-Saqalawiya into the city of Fallujah, resulting in the liberation of the areas of al-Nahar and Sakkat al-Qetar (10 km north of Fallujah),” pointing out that, “The security forces managed to kill a suicide bomber and three [ISIS] elements, including a Chinese national, during the liberation operation.”
 
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/s...southern-fallujah-dozens-isis-members-killed/
On Monday the leadership of al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced liberating an area in Amiriyah vicinity in southern Fallujah, while pointed out to the killing of dozens of ISIS members during the operation.

The commander of the 2nd regiment in Fallujah Shield brigade, Colonel Orans Mohamed al-Eissawi, said in an interview obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This afternoon the joint security force managed to liberate al-Yatama neighborhood area in Amiriyah vicinity, after fierce battles, resulting in the killing of dozens of ISIS members.”

Eissawi added, “The security forces were able also to destroy three booby-trapped vehicles and detonate a rockets launcher belonging to ISIS near the banks of the Euphrates River during the liberation battles,” pointing out that, “The liberation battles are still ongoing in the southwest axis of the city.”
 

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