Iraqi Fallujah Government HQ Retaken

Local Editor

Iraqi forces retook the main government compound in Fallujah Friday, top commanders said, which is considered a breakthrough in the nearly four-week-old offensive against Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" group].

Iraq's elite federal forces met limited resistance from Daesh terrorists, who are redeploying on the western outskirts of the city, commanders said.

"The counter-terrorism service and the rapid response forces have retaken the government compound in the center of Fallujah," the operation's overall commander, Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi pointed out.

For his part, Raed Shaker Jawdat, Iraq's federal police chief, confirmed the advance.

"The liberation of the government compound, which is the main landmark in the city, symbolizes the restoration of the state's authority" in Fallujah, he said.

In was in 2014 that the government lost control of Fallujah, months before Daesh took second city of Mosul and swept across large parts of the country.

Fallujah, just 50 kilometers west of Baghdad, is one of Daesh's most emblematic strongholds and its loss would leave Mosul as 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 neighborhoods 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," Saadi added.

Besides, security officials said many Daesh members managed to slip out of the city by blending in with fleeing civilians in recent days, in some cases paying off security forces.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes since the start of the operation last month.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team