Iraqi forces have faced strong resistance from the jihadist group
Islamic State (
IS) as they move towards the center of the city of
Fallujah.
Supported by the aviation of international coalition led by the
United States and conducted by the Iraqi elite counterterrorism unit, government forces entered
Fallujah Monday, at the 8th day of their offensive to expel this
IS of this town 70 km west of Baghdad.
But according to experts, the battle will be long and difficult, the extremist group is well established in
Fallujah since the conquest in January 2014 of this city who is one of two major fiefs jihadists in Iraq with
Mosul North. After entering in Fallujah from three axes, Iraqi forces have achieved their most significant progress on the south side where they reached the suburb of
Naimiyah.
According to
General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, commander of the military operation,
"about 100 heavily armed jihadists" launched Tuesday a major counter attack this sector. But Iraqi forces were able to push them back, killing 75 jihadists, he said. The provincial adviser
Rajeh Barakat affirmed that Iraqi forces had managed to continue to grow after the counter attack jihadist
"repulsed with air support from the international coalition and the Iraqi air force".
Iraqi forces, with the help of US military advisers, preparing for months the battle of Fallujah, taken by the jihadists five months before the lightning offensive that helped them in June 2014 to take over other parts of the country including
Mosul. They gradually besieged the city.
Since the beginning of the offensive on 23 May to reconquer
Fallujah, thousands of civilians have managed to escape the outlying areas. But some 50,000 are still in the center of the city.
According to the Secretary General of the
Norwegian Refugee Council (
NRC),
Jan Egeland,
"a humanitarian disaster is happening in Fallujah, families are trapped between the warring parties not allowed out safe". In a statement, it renewed his call to set up secure escape routes for civilians
"before it's too late".
The
IS is under strong military pressure in recent weeks with another offensive by Iraqi Kurdish forces which advanced to the east of the city of
Mosul, the capital of the jihadists in
Iraq.
On the other side of the border, in
Syria, the jihadist group is also the target of a major offensive by Syrian Arab-Kurdish forces in the north of the province of
Raqa (north), who progress slowly after taking over a dozen villages. In response to this offensive,
IS launched an assault against the rebels in the neighboring province of Aleppo, threatening tens of thousands of displaced people who are trapped in the fighting.
And in the Syrian city of Idleb (northwest) controlled by the jihadists of
Al Qaeda and rebels, at least 23 civilians were killed and dozens injured on Monday in Russian raids, according to the
Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (
SOHR).
The war in
Syria which are involved regime, rebels, jihadists and regional and international actors has killed more than 280,000 people since 2011 and forced to leakage of millions of people, causing a major humanitarian crisis.
Source :
AFP
