LIVE from frontline: Iraqi army advances into IS-held Fallujah
(Ruptly TV) ~ LIVE from the outskirts of Fallujah [on Tuesday, May 31]. Iraqi armed forces attempt to advance into the city, which was captured by Daesh [the so-called Islamic State, IS, SIS/ISIL] in 2014.
The military forces of the Iraqi government initially launched the operation to retake the IS-held city of Fallujah on May 23, following an announcement by the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi.
Fallujah, about 40 miles (78 km) west of Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to be taken by IS in January 2014. Up to 75,000 civilians have been trapped inside the city, caught between the IS and armed forces, including the Iraqi army and allied militias.
Iraqi security forces repeated calls for civilians in Fallujah to flee on May 22, but locals say they have been unable to escape, as they are used as human shields by the mercenary-terrorist gangs of Daesh.
Iraqi Forces Enter ISIL-Held Fallujah
(FNA) ~ Iraqi forces entered ISIL-held Fallujah, one of the terrorist group’s key strongholds in Iraq after completing a troop buildup around the city, officials told media on Monday.
“The operation to enter Fallujah began on Monday morning,” an Iraqi official told journalists who entered the city with the Iraqi security forces, RT reported.
The Iraqi military officer said the government’s military units began advancing in the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Fallujah’s Southern Naimiyah district.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIL positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.
Major Dhia Thamir told media on Sunday that Iraqi troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began last week. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said, during a televised speech to parliament, that the “current second phase of the Fallujah operation” will last less than 48 hours.
The large-scale assault, carried out by the Army, police counterterrorism units, local tribal fighters and a coalition of Shiite Muslim militias, continues on all fronts around the city. Besides making vast gains in the North, forces, aided by US advisers, have also been advancing on the city from the Sinjar direction.
“We are moving in the right direction. We are killing those criminals,” a police unit fighter told RT last week, adding that approaches to the city are mined.
Fallujah, which survived some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 US-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall under ISIL control in January 2014. In late June, 2014, the extremists declared a caliphate in territories seized in Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi Army Discovers ISIL’s Interconnected Tunnels in Fallujah City
(FNA) ~ The Iraqi security forces discovered a series of interconnected tunnels used by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in the city of Fallujah in Anbar province in Western Iraq.
The tunnels were over 1 kilometer long and the ISIL had cultivated plants on the roof and entrance of the tunnels in order to camouflage them against Iraqi airstrikes.
The discovered tunnels were connected to each other and were used by the Takfiri terrorists to gain access to different parts of the city.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Iraqi army backed by the country’s air force foiled an attempt by the Takfiri terrorists to attack their military positions in the Southern part of the city of Fallujah, killing tens of militants in counterattacks.
The Iraqi forces killed 75 our of over 100 ISIL invaders who raided their recently captured positions in al-Naimiyah region in the Southern part of Fallujah, Commander of Fallujah Operations Major General Abdelwahab al-Saedi announced.
The Iraqi forces are continuing their advances towards the center of Fallujah city, he added.
On Monday, the Iraqi security forces advanced towards the center of the city of Fallujah as they clashed with the ISIL over taking control of al-Tafaha bridge.
The Iraqi forces maintained full control over al-Shihah region and are now clashing with the ISIL terrorists in al-Saqlawiyah town to the West of Fallujah city.
An estimated 600-1,000 ISIL terrorists with the exception of their allied tribal fighters are stationed in the Fallujah city.
The Iraqi government troops entered the Jolan neighborhood as they gained control over al-Saqlawiyah region.
Meantime, the Iraqi army seized back al-Niamiyah region to the South of Fallujah.
The Iraqi forces have besieged Fallujah from four directions and the ISIL can only escape through al-Zawiyah region.
Earlier on Monday, the Iraqi forces entered Fallujah, one of the terrorist group’s key strongholds in Iraq after completing a troop buildup around the city.
“The operation to enter Fallujah began on Monday morning,” an Iraqi official told journalists who entered the city with the Iraqi security forces.
The Iraqi military officer said the government’s military units began advancing in the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Fallujah’s Southern Naimiyah district.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIL positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.
Major Dhia Thamir told media on Sunday that Iraqi troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began last week. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said, during a televised speech to parliament, that the “current second phase of the Fallujah operation” will last less than 48 hours.
The large-scale assault, carried out by the Army, police counterterrorism units, local tribal fighters and a coalition of Shiite Muslim militias, continues on all fronts around the city. Besides making vast gains in the North, forces, aided by US advisers, have also been advancing on the city from the Sinjar direction.
“We are moving in the right direction. We are killing those criminals,” a police unit fighter told RT last week, adding that approaches to the city are mined.
Fallujah, which survived some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 US-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall under ISIL control in January 2014. In late June, 2014, the extremists declared a caliphate in territories seized in Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi Army Kills 75 ISIL Terrorists in Counteroffensive in Southern Fallujah
(FNA) ~ The Iraqi army backed by the country’s air force foiled an attempt by the Takfiri terrorists to attack their military positions in the Southern part of the city of Fallujah, killing tens of militants in counterattacks.
The Iraqi forces killed 75 our of over 100 ISIL invaders who raided their recently captured positions in al-Naimiyah region in the Southern part of Fallujah, Commander of Fallujah Operations Major General Abdelwahab al-Saedi announced on Tuesday.
The Iraqi forces are continuing their advances towards the center of Fallujah city, he added.
On Monday, the Iraqi security forces advanced towards the center of the city of Fallujah as they clashed with the ISIL over taking control of al-Tafaha bridge.
The Iraqi forces maintained full control over al-Shihah region and are now clashing with the ISIL terrorists in al-Saqlawiyah town to the West of Fallujah city.
An estimated 600-1,000 ISIL terrorists with the exception of their allied tribal fighters are stationed in the Fallujah city.
The Iraqi government troops entered the Jolan neighborhood as they gained control over al-Saqlawiyah region.
Meantime, the Iraqi army seized back al-Niamiyah region to the South of Fallujah.
The Iraqi forces have besieged Fallujah from four directions and the ISIL can only escape through al-Zawiyah region.
Earlier on Monday, the Iraqi forces entered Fallujah, one of the terrorist group’s key strongholds in Iraq after completing a troop buildup around the city.
“The operation to enter Fallujah began on Monday morning,” an Iraqi official told journalists who entered the city with the Iraqi security forces.
The Iraqi military officer said the government’s military units began advancing in the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Fallujah’s Southern Naimiyah district.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIL positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.
Major Dhia Thamir told media on Sunday that Iraqi troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began last week. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said, during a televised speech to parliament, that the “current second phase of the Fallujah operation” will last less than 48 hours.
The large-scale assault, carried out by the Army, police counterterrorism units, local tribal fighters and a coalition of Shiite Muslim militias, continues on all fronts around the city. Besides making vast gains in the North, forces, aided by US advisers, have also been advancing on the city from the Sinjar direction.
“We are moving in the right direction. We are killing those criminals,” a police unit fighter told RT last week, adding that approaches to the city are mined.
Fallujah, which survived some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 US-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall under ISIL control in January 2014. In late June, 2014, the extremists declared a caliphate in territories seized in Iraq and Syria.
Anbar Province: Iraqi Forces Kill 110 ISIL Terrorists Near Fallujah City
(FNA) ~ The Iraqi army and volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) continued their advances in Anbar province, killing tens of Takfiri terrorists near the city of Fallujah on Sunday.
At least 110 ISIL terrorists were killed in the offensive of Iraqi joint forces in Northern al-Karmah to the Northeast of Fallujah city.
Al-Karmah is an important and strategic city near Fallujah and is considered as an entrance gate to the city of Fallujah. It is located 16 kilometers to the Northeast of Fallujah.
On Tuesday, Iraqi military forces managed to push ISIL militants back from agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they continue their military operation to retake Iraq’s Western city.
Lieutenant Ahmed Mahdi Salih, a commander in Iraqi federal police participating in the battle, said that fierce battles were taking place in the Eastern vicinity of Fallujah which the militants are using as a supply line, Rudaw news website reported.
The operation is being conducted under the command of Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab Al Sa’adi who pointed out that tough terrains of the battlefields, the risk of civilian casualties and the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) ISIL has planted in and around the city are obstacles to a swift victory, which is why they will begin the offensive by surrounding and bombarding ISIL positions.
While Iraqi military and paramilitary forces have had the city encircled for over a year this is their first serious attempt to recapture the city and force the militants to retreat from the area.
ISIL captured Fallujah back in January 2014 making it the first and longest city it has been controlling in Iraq.
Al-Baghdadi’s Important Aide, ISIL Postman Killed in Iraq
(FNA)- One of the most important aides to ISIL ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in Iraq’s volatile province of al-Anbar along with the terrorist group’s postman.
The Iraqi air force in coordination with the joint operations command center targeted one of the important hideouts of ISIL criminals in al-Qaem region,” Soumeria news reported on Tuesday.
“During the operations, a number of terrorists, including the former ISIL war minister and governor of the Euphrates region and one of the most important aides to al-Baghdadi who was in charge of several terrorist attacks and the commander of the ISIL’s Tabouk brigade in Syria and Iraq, were killed both,” it added.
According to the report, the ISIL postman in Baghdad and a Saudi commander of the terrorist group were also killed in Iraq’s air raids.
Earlier today, the Iraqi military announced in a statement that seven senior ISIL commanders, including the organization’s intelligence and security chief, were killed in an airstrike by the Iraqi air force in the Western province of Anbar.
The Iraqi military said that the airstrike targeted ISIL leaders as a part of the ongoing operation in the Western Anbar province, on the border with Syria.
Commanders of the ISIL armed groups operating in Iraq and Syria, as well as the head of an ISIL court, were killed in the raids, the statement said.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an ultimate offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah since Monday, and have been slicing through ISIL positions across the city. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of Iraq, including the country’s second largest city, Mosul.
ISIL Transferring Huge Amount of Jewelries from Fallujah to Mosul
(FNA) ~ ISIL has relocated its stolen and blackmailed jewelry reserves to its stronghold in Mosul after the Iraqi military forces’ remarkable advances in Fallujah region, informed sources revealed on Tuesday.
“The ISIL is awfully scared of the soon collapse of its rule in Fallujah,” the sources said, adding, “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.”
In the meantime, al-Ein news website of Mosul confirmed that the ISIL official in charge with Treasury Department, Saeed Hamed al-Homsi, has thus far transferred equal to eight million dollars of the group’s jewelries in Fallujah to Mosul.
“The ISIL has sent several catches of the Fallujah’s reserves of money and jewelries to Mosul so far. The first delivery was on Monday the second day of the Iraqi army’s operation. The ISIL packed the jewelries in a golden box and sent it to Mosul,” the sources said.
A report said on Monday that the Iraqi security forces advanced towards the center of the city of Fallujah as they clashed with the ISIL over taking control of al-Tafaha bridge.
The Iraqi forces maintained full control over al-Shihah region and are now clashing with the ISIL terrorists in al-Saqlawiyah town to the West of Fallujah city.
An estimated 600-1,000 ISIL terrorists with the exception of their allied tribal fighters are stationed in the Fallujah city.
The Iraqi government troops entered the Jolan neighborhood as they gained control over al-Saqlawiyah region.
Meantime, the Iraqi army seized back al-Niamiyah region to the South of Fallujah.
The Iraqi forces have besieged Fallujah from four directions and the ISIL can only escape through al-Zawiyah region.
Liberation of Fallujah to Strengthen Iraq’s Integrity
(FNA) ~ A senior advisor to the Iraqi foreign minister described the imminent liberation of Fallujah as a prelude to winning back the important city of Mosul, and said this big step will reinvigorate Iraq’s integrity.
“Freedom of Fallujah will be a highly important stage in Iraq’s contemporary history,” the former Iraqi deputy foreign minister, Mohammad al-Haaj Hammoud, told FNA on Tuesday.
“God willing, we are advancing towards seizing back Mosul from the hands of ISIL terrorists after liberation of Fallujah and this will encourage unity among the Iraqis and building an integrated Iraq,” he added.
Hammoud underlined that taking back control of Fallujah through cooperation among all tribes represents a symbol of unity among all Iraqis in rejection of forms of terrorism and those who support them.
Security sources disclosed that the ISIL has lost a large number of its terrorists in Anbar province in the Iraqi army attacks and for the same reason it has commissioned female militants to take charge of Fallujah city’s security.
“The foreign and non-Syrian female terrorists have been appointed to maintain security of Fallujah,” the Arabic-language media quoted an unnamed Iraqi security source as saying on Monday.
The source noted that the ISIL is facing acute shortage of forces in Fallujah and it has even dispatched its administrative personnel to the warfront.
The Iraqi forces on Monday entered Fallujah, one of the terrorist group’s key strongholds in Iraq after completing a troop buildup around the city.
“The operation to enter Fallujah began on Monday morning,” an Iraqi official told journalists who entered the city with the Iraqi security forces.
The Iraqi military officer said the government’s military units began advancing in the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) West of Baghdad, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Fallujah’s Southern Naimiyah district.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIL positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.
ISIL Kills Militants Wounded in Fallujah Battle through Lethal Injection
(FNA) ~ Iraqi health officials disclosed that the ISIL terrorist group has resorted to a new method to get rid of its wounded militants and kills those wounded in Fallujah battle by giving them lethal injections.
“The ISIL has given potassium chloride injection to its wounded terrorists to kill them,” the Arabic-language media quoted an informed source in Fallujah hospital as saying on Monday.
The source noted that the ISIL has killed dozen of its injured terrorists who were hospitalized in Fallujah hospital, and said, “Potassium chloride results in patients’ heart attack.”
Earlier on Monday, the Iraqi security forces advanced towards the center of the city of Fallujah as they clashed with the ISIL over taking control of al-Tafaha bridge.
The Iraqi forces maintained full control over al-Shihah region and are now clashing with the ISIL terrorists in al-Saqlawiyah town to the West of Fallujah city.
An estimated 600-1,000 ISIL terrorists with the exception of their allied tribal fighters are stationed in the Fallujah city.
The Iraqi government troops entered the Jolan neighborhood as they gained control over al-Saqlawiyah region.
Meantime, the Iraqi army seized back al-Niamiyah region to the South of Fallujah.
The Iraqi forces have besieged Fallujah from four directions and the ISIL can only escape through al-Zawiyah region.
Also today, the Iraqi forces entered Fallujah, one of the terrorist group’s key strongholds in Iraq after completing a troop buildup around the city.
“The operation to enter Fallujah began on Monday morning,” an Iraqi official told journalists who entered the city with the Iraqi security forces, RT reported.
The Iraqi military officer said the government’s military units began advancing in the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Fallujah’s Southern Naimiyah district.
Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge ISIL militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIL positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the North and West of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.
Major Dhia Thamir told media on Sunday that Iraqi troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began last week. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said, during a televised speech to parliament, that the “current second phase of the Fallujah operation” will last less than 48 hours.
The large-scale assault, carried out by the Army, police counterterrorism units, local tribal fighters and a coalition of Shiite Muslim militias, continues on all fronts around the city. Besides making vast gains in the North, forces, aided by US advisers, have also been advancing on the city from the Sinjar direction.
“We are moving in the right direction. We are killing those criminals,” a police unit fighter told RT last week, adding that approaches to the city are mined.
Fallujah, which survived some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 US-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall under ISIL control in January 2014. In late June, 2014, the extremists declared a caliphate in territories seized in Iraq and Syria.
Who Is Turning Iraq and Syria to Heaps of Ruins?
(FNA) ~ Some “pundits” in the West claim it is because of the destructive might of the US-led coalition of air forces that the anti-ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria have had their recent successes.
They also claim that the ongoing military campaign by Iraqi soldiers, special forces, federal police, and Shiite volunteers to liberate Fallujah will turn the Sunni Arab city held by ISIL since early 2014 to ruins.
The established wisdom seems to be that half of the Middle East is in ruins because of the US-led wars and aggression that produced 700,000 widows in Iraq alone. In their eagerness to overturn governments, subvert democracy, impose blockades and boycotts, and “democratize” the region, the colonial powers carried out indiscriminate air raids, made deserts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, and they called it peace. They made tens of millions of refugees and they called it “humanitarian intervention”. They facilitated the rise of terrorist groups and they called it “moderate democratic forces”. The applause is deafening even today, as they claim without their close air support, the anti-ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria would not have had their recent successes!
This is nonsense. The Iraqi Army and volunteer forces, backed by Iranian military advisors, have what it takes to recapture Fallujah. They will not destroy the city in the process either. Fallujah was in ruins long before the allied forces decided to launch the ground offensive. With or without the US-led airstrikes, the forces will take the city – just as the way they recaptured Ramadi from ISIL last December. More than 70 percent of that city’s infrastructure is also in ruins, not because of the allied forces, but because of the previous US-led bombing raids.
In fact, it is because of the US-led air raids that all water, electricity, sewage and other infrastructure – such as bridges, government facilities, hospitals and schools – suffer some degree of damage in Ramadi and Fallujah. Some of the destruction was also caused by ISIL IEDs, booby traps, mortars and suicide bombers, but most has been the result of US-led coalition airstrikes – the same politically correct warmongers that still congratulate themselves on the “pinpoint accuracy” of their sinister firepower and even gag for another war.
It is noteworthy to argue that if indeed their firepower had “pinpoint accuracy”, then why was it necessary for the US-led coalition to destroy Ramadi and Fallujah in earlier assaults? The same is true of their other “victories” over ISIL in Syria, where many cities and towns share the same fate. Why is it that they never talk about the role and the success rate of Russian airstrikes either?
In truth, the United States is not giving air support to Iranian-backed Shiite forces (Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units) fighting alongside the combat-effective government security forces and regular army in the ongoing offensive to take Fallujah. The Pentagon officials say the US only acts in support of regular government forces and politically acceptable allies such as the Sunni tribal militias.
Their acknowledgement is more than sufficient to demonstrate that the allied forces have no US support, and with no US forces on front lines, they can still take Fallujah. What’s more, it is not necessary to systematically destroy the city in order to save it – something that the Pentagon perpetrators want to apply under their “pinpoint accuracy” doctrine.
As is, war is insane, and the War Party continues to perpetuate its insanity on others, having been constantly at war since at least 1991. The present assault on the “American Caliphate” is not designed to turn Fallujah to heaps of ruins in a long fight and through an unprecedented campaign of terrorism and murder by drone. Moreover, it is not motivated by criminal and deceitful aggressions violating International Law to assure control of geostrategic resources, deemed necessary to further the insatiable American way of life and hegemony.
What is happening in Fallujah is what will happen in Mosul: Stopping the lost souls of ISIL, liberating five million Sunni Arabs, power sharing deals, and active inclusion in the Iraqi government and politics – as honorably and humanely as possible.
Militants’ Recent Failures in Iraq, Syria Weakening Position of Saudi-Backed Negotiators
(FNA) ~ Political analysts believe that the recent failures of terrorist groups in the battleground have debilitated positions of Riyadh-backed negotiators in Syria peace talks.
They thought that the Syrian dissidents’ delegation enjoys enough integrity in peace talks but resignation of Mohammed Alloush, chief negotiator for the Syrian militant group Jaysh al-Islam, from his post proved the opposite.
Alloush’s resignation was a hard blow to the Syrian dissidents, a political analyst told FNA on Tuesday.
“Given the past experiences, possibly more resignations and dismissals wait for the dissidents’ delegation,” he added.
Another analyst who is an expert of Iraq’s developments said that ISIL’s retreat from Fallujah and the Syrian army and popular forces’ advances will make the situation even more difficult for the opposition negotiators in Syria talks and will change the scene in Syria rapidly.
Alloush resigned from his position in a meeting in the Saudi-capital Riyadh over lack of progress in the peace talks for Syria.
Alloush said he was resigning over the failure of the UN-backed Geneva peace talks to bring a political settlement and to ease the plight of Syrians living in besieged rebel-held areas, Irish Times reported.
Mohammed Alloush, who is also the representative of the Jaysh al-Islam faction in the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said in a statement that the peace talks had also failed to secure the release of thousands of detainees or to push Syria towards a political transition without president Bashar al-Assad.
The UN-backed parties have not set a date for the resumption of the peace talks after the HNC suspended their participation until the situation on the ground has radically changed.
The Syrian government does not recognize the right of the HNC to speak on behalf of the opposition and insists they were tools of foreign powers seeking to topple the government and brand Alloush himself as a “terrorist”.
The resignation was accepted in a meeting in the Saudi-capital Riyadh headed by HNC’s chief coordinator Riad Hijab that sought to assess the peace negotiations.
Head of the main Syrian opposition delegation Asaad al-Zoubi also told al-Hadath TV channel that he too wanted to be relieved of his post in the HNC but did not confirm he had taken a similar step.
A source in the opposition said Zoubi was replaced in a reshuffle of the HNC negotiating team that includes both military factions and political groupings.
The Syrian opposition suspended in April its formal participation in peace talks. They were however under strong pressure not to quit altogether.
SOURCES: Ruptly TV Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Fars News Agency Submitted by SyrianPatriots War Press Info Network at: https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/fallujah-reports/ ~River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
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