Iraqi troops retake govt. compound in center of Fallujah

Iraqi forces have retaken the main government compound in the center of Fallujah from Daesh militants, symbolizing government control of the city.

A military statement said the federal police raised the Iraqi flag above the municipal building on Friday and were continuing to pursue Takfiri militants, who continued to hold other areas.

The army’s advances in the city, an hour’s drive west of Baghdad, mark a significant step in the nearly four-week-old offensive to retake the Takfiri bastion.

“The liberation of the government compound, which is the main landmark in the city, symbolizes the restoration of the state’s authority” in Fallujah, Iraq’s federal police chief Raed Shaker Jawdat told the AFP news agency.

Another military commander said “the counter-terrorism service and the rapid response forces” are involved in the operation.

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