Trap tightens on civilians as battles rage in Fallujah

FALLUJAH — The Daesh (the so-called IS) group battled Iraqi forces and held civilians hostage Wednesday to defend its bastion of Fallujah, where three weeks of fighting has forced tens of thousands from their homes. Security forces have retaken significant parts of southern Fallujah over the past two weeks and are now attacking the militants in the Jbeil neighborhood, officers said. "Counter-terrorism forces as well as federal and Anbar police continue the operation to liberate Jbeil, in southern Fallujah, and face fierce resistance from Daesh," a police colonel said. Ground forces backed by Iraqi and US-led coalition airstrikes alternated barrages of artillery fire with attempts to move forward in street battles, engaging with light weapons sometimes only meters away from Daesh fighters. Fallujah is a medium-sized, densely built-up town that lies only 50 km west of Baghdad. It is one of the last two major Iraqi cities Daesh controls, the other being Mosul. US forces suffered some of their worst losses since the Vietnam War when they battled one of Daesh's previous incarnations in the city in 2004 and it is one of the militants' most emblematic bastions. Going against US advice to focus efforts on the northern city of Mosul, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced an offensive to retake Fallujah in late May. The advance of pro-government forces has since been slow, with Fallujah's status as a symbolic Daesh stronghold and a tight siege by Iraqi forces ensuring holdout militants have few options other than fighting to the death. Progress against the massively outnumbered militants has also been hampered by Daesh's systematic use of civilians as human shields. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 43,000 people have been displaced since the start of the operation more than three weeks ago. But most of them were fleeing Daesh rule in outlying areas while residents of central Fallujah have found it very difficult to escape. In the displacement camps of nearby Amriyat Al-Fallujah, those men who made it through the screening said Shiite militiamen from the Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary umbrella group were torturing suspects. A 35-year-old man from an area just west of Fallujah displayed deep cuts on his wrists. "That's from having my hands cuffed for four days, with nothing to eat or drink," he said. "When they eventually pushed me off a moving pick-up truck, I was so exhausted I didn't even feel anything," he said. — AFP