Commander: Iraqi Army to Purge ISIL from Fallujah in 10 Days

The Iraqi army will fully overcome the threat of the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Fallujah city in the Western city of Anbar in the coming days, a senior commander announced on Saturday.
“The threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will come under full control in Fallujah city in the next 10 days,” Al-Anbar Province Military Operations Commander Brigadier General Rashid Fallih said in a televised interview.

He underlined that the Iraqi army has sufficient weapons and ammunition to confront the terrorist groups in all parts of Iraq.

Last week, the Iraqi security forces backed by tribesmen carried out offensive attacks against al-Qaeda-linked gunmen in Anbar, security sources said.

In the early hours of Thursday, Iraqi army troops backed by tribesmen began a major offensive campaign targeting al- Qaeda militants in the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km West of Baghdad, and the al-Jazira area outside the town of Khaldiyah, some 30 km East of Ramadi, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the press.

Around noon, the troops and the tribesmen, equipped with armored vehicles, tanks and helicopters, managed to retake control of the districts of al-Mal’ab, Albu-Jabir and Street 60 in the Eastern and Southern parts of Ramadi after fierce clashes with al- Qaeda gunmen, the source said, adding that sporadic clashes against pockets of remnants are still underway in the city.

Meanwhile, five al-Qaeda militants were killed in fierce clashes that erupted near the town of Khaldiyah between Iraqi security forces backed by paramilitary groups of Sunni tribes and al-Qaeda militants, the source said.

The clashes in Khaldiyah were part of another offensive targeting al-Qaeda militants when the Iraqi infantry troops teamed up with hundreds of Sunni tribesmen and started to sweep the edges of the town and the nearby open land area (called al-Jazira), including the areas of Albu-Bali, al-Girtan, Albu-Hazil and Albu- Obeid, the source added.

In the early hours of the battles, the army helicopters burned 13 four-wheel drive vehicles used by the militants, while the troops managed to seize Albu-Bali area near Khaldiyah, the source said, adding that the tribesmen and the troops immediately left the area to hunt down more al-Qaeda gunmen after they left a police brigade at the area to prevent the return of the gunmen.

Elsewhere in Anbar province, the security forces and the tribesmen cleared the town of Saqlawiyah near the city of Fallujah, after they fought gunmen in the town and retook control of the local government compound and the town’s police station which were occupied by the militants, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the ministry said that the security forces killed three al-Qaeda militants and captured six others after clashes erupted near a village bordering Syria.

Anbar province has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dispersed an anti-government protest site outside Ramadi in late December last year.

Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged the people of Anbar to continue fighting al-Qaeda militant group, and called for the world to support the “war against terrorism.”

“We call on the sons of the tribes in Fallujah, Saqlawiyah in Anbar province and in Nineveh province to take a firm stance in order to expel the terrorists from their areas so that peace would prevail there,” Maliki said in his weekly televised speech.

Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, which is the highest annual death toll in years.