Battle of Fallujah (2016)

For other uses, see Battle of Fallujah (disambiguation).

The Battle of Fallujah, Operation Breaking Terrorism (Arabic: عملية كسر الإرهاب‎‎), Fallujah offensive, or Third Battle of Fallujah is a military operation against ISIL to liberate the Iraqi city of Fallujah, located about 69 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad. The operation began on 22 May 2016, three months after the Iraqi forces had started the total siege of Fallujah.

Background

Main articles: Anbar offensive (2015–present) and Siege of Fallujah (2016)

Fallujah was the first city seized by Daesh in Iraq in January 2014. Iraqi forces completely surrounded the western city after they recaptured Ramadi in February 2016. ISIL militants prevented people from leaving the city.

Fallujah is considered to be the second most important stronghold of ISIL in Iraq, after Mosul.

Shia marja Ayatollah Sistani released instructions regarding respecting moral principles while advancing toward the Sunni city.

Preparations

The Iraqi Army published a statement on 22 May 2016 and asked residents of the battlefield to leave the area through secured routes. The Iraqi Army also said that local residents who could not move should raise white flags on top of their roofs.

The offensive

Haider al-Abadi ordered to begin the operation early on Monday, 23 May. "The Iraqi flag will be raised high over the land of Fallujah." al-Abadi said. On 23 May 2016 it was reported the city of Al-Karmah was recaptured by Shiite militias belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Photos published by a PMF source show Iran's Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani and other PMF commanders discussing Fallujah battle strategies. On the first day of the offensive 11 further villages and districts near Fallujah were recaptured, which forced ISIL fighters to retreat to the interior of the strategically important city. The offensive was slowed down because in the outskirts hundreds of improvised explosive devices were found.

The Popular Mobilization Forces declared on 23 May that they had captured Al-Karma, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Fallujah, which brings most of the territory east of Fallujah under Iraqi government control. They also announced the liberation of al-Harariyat, al-Shahabi and al-Dwaya and the killing of 40 ISIL militants during the military operation. Iraqi government announced that pro-government fighters had captured the villages of Luhaib and Albu Khanfar on 24 May.

On 25 May, 16 villages and districts on the eastern outskirts of Fallujah had been cleared by the Iraqi Security Forces. Included in this were the gains from a column in the northeast, which liberated the village of Sejar days after the recapture of Al-Karmah. These clashes resulted in the death of 40 ISIL militants. An additional 163 ISIL militants, 15 civilians and 35 Iraqi forces and militiamen were killed in clashes which gained the Iraqi army control over the remaining districts in the southeast, allowing them to create a corridor that cut the ISIL-controlled zone in two. During the day, it was reported an Iranian Basij member was killed in fighting near Fallujah. According to Qasm Araji, a member of the defense committee, the advancing forces are continuously gaining ground and "nearing Fallujah’s Eastern gate."

On 27 May, the US-led Coalition conducted airstrikes in and around the city. US-led Coalition air and artillery strikes in and around Fallujah killed 70 ISIL fighters in Fallujah, including the militants’ top commander in the area, Maher Al-Bilawi. On 28 May, the Iraqi Army declared the start of an operation to liberate Fallujah’s city center, with Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) being the first unit to break into the city.

On 29 May, the Iraqi forces reportedly repelled an ISIL attack on Albu Shajal, killing "dozens" of militants. On the same day, Iraqi troops seized a key bridge between Zaghareed and Saqlawiyah, in order to facilitate the entry of the security forces from the international highway road into the center of Saqlawiyah.

Early on 30 May, the Iraqi forces began entering the city of Fallujah from 3 directions, and captured the village of Saqlawiyah. However, the Iraqi forces faced very stiff resistance from the ISIL forces inside of the city, slowing their advance. Since 21 May, only 3,000 civilians had managed to escape Fallujah. The Iraqi forces entered Fallujah city through the southern village of Nuamiyah, entering the Shuhadaa neighborhood, on the way to the city center. Iraqi forces repelled a four-hour attack by the Islamic State in the south of the city of Fallujah on Tuesday. The militants deployed snipers and six cars carrying explosives which were destroyed before reaching the troops.

The Iraqi military's advance into Fallujah was stalled Wednesday by fierce resistance from Islamic State fighters and concerns over protecting tens of thousands of civilians still trapped inside the strategic city, officials said. With the operation in its second week, convoys of special forces could only inch forward on the dusty southern outskirts of the city as a handful of airstrikes sent up plumes of white smoke above clusters of low buildings on the fringes of the city's dense urban terrain.

It was revealed that recent advances of the Iraqi government forces in the region have caused the terrorist group's commanders to decide to move the huge amount of their treasure to the safer region of Mosul.

See also

• Fall of Fallujah (2014)
• Fallujah during the Iraq War
• Northern Raqqa offensive (May 2016–present), a simultaneous offensive against ISIL-held Ar-Raqqah, Syria
• Timeline of ISIL-related events (2016)

External links

• Fallujah, again - Why retaking the jihadist stronghold has become a priority