BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces retook the main governmentcompound in Fallujah on Friday, top commanders said, a breakthrough inthe...
BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces retook the main governmentcompound in Fallujah on Friday, top commanders said, a breakthrough inthe nearly four-week-old offensive against the Islamic State group'sbastion.
The elite federal forces met limited resistance from IS fighters, whoare redeploying on the western outskirts of the city, the commanderstold AFP.
"The counter-terrorism service and the rapid response forces haveretaken the government compound in the centre of Fallujah," theoperation's overall commander, Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi,told AFP.
Raed Shaker Jawdat, Iraq's federal police chief, confirmed the advance.
"The liberation of the government compound, which is the main landmarkin the city, symbolises the restoration of the state's authority" inFallujah, he said.
The government lost control of Fallujah in 2014, months before IS tooksecond city Mosul and swept across large parts of the country.
Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, isone of IS´s most emblematic strongholds and its loss would leave Mosulas the only major Iraqi city under its control.
In the hours running up to the latest push into the heart of Fallujah,Iraqi forces retook several neighbourhoods in the south and east,giving them control over close to 50 percent of the city.
"This operation was done with little resistance from Daesh," Saadisaid, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
"There is a mass flight of Daesh to the west that explains this lackof resistance. There are only pockets of them left and we are huntingthem down."
Security officials said many IS members had managed to slip out of thecity by blending in with fleeing civilians in recent days, in somecases paying off security forces.
"The top leaders are mostly gone and those left behind to defend thecity are not their best fighters, which explains their performance,"said a security officer speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes sincethe start of the operation last month.
Aid groups overwhelmed
The first to escape IS rule were those living in rural outlying areas,in the early phase of the operation which saw a myriad different Iraqiforces seal the siege of the city.
Residents of the city centre had been trapped in dire conditions fordays but recent advances have allowed large numbers to escape.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs camps for the displaced nearFallujah, said the sudden influx meant relief was drying up fast.
"Thousands of civilians from Fallujah are right now heading towardsdisplacement camps in a dramatic development that is overwhelmingemergency aid provision and services," it said.
With IS on the retreat in the city, a window has opened for civiliansto leave but the journey remains dangerous, with several cases offleeing civilians killed or wounded by the explosion of roadsidebombs.
There were an estimated 50,000 people in the city when the operationwas launched but it is unclear how many remain now.
Civilians have been used as human shields by IS and those who managedto flee face the risk of sectarian-motivated abuse by elements of thepro-government forces.
Fallujah is a Sunni Muslim city and the involvement of Shiite militiagroups in the operation had raised fears of sectarian revenge attacks.
Several men who eventually reached displacement camps outside ofFallujah after being screened by Iraqi forces spoke of cases oftorture and killing at the hands of militia groups.
They said some paramilitary forces openly told the local men they heldof their desire to avenge the victims of the Speicher massacre, whichsaw IS and allied local gunmen execute up to 1,700 mostly Shiiterecruits near Tikrit two years ago.