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US-Led Coalition Says Only 1/3 of Fallujah Cleared of IS
Source: Associated Press
US-Led Coalition Says Only 1/3 of Fallujah Cleared of IS
By SUSANNAH GEORGE, ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD — Jun 21, 2016, 11:10 AM ET
Only a third of Fallujah has been "cleared" of Islamic State militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years.
Other parts of the city are "contested," said U.S. Army Col. Christopher Garver, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, with clashes underway between Iraqi security forces and IS fighters. Most of the cleared terrain is in the south of the city and "clearing operations continue outward from the city center," Garver added.
Iraqi forces pushed into the center of Fallujah on Friday, retaking a government complex and the central hospital. That evening Brig. Gen. Haider al-Obedi, with Iraq's special forces, told The Associated Press his troops controlled 80 percent of the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Friday that Fallujah had "returned to the embrace of the nation," and that remaining IS pockets would be "cleaned out within hours."
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By SUSANNAH GEORGE, ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD — Jun 21, 2016, 11:10 AM ET
Only a third of Fallujah has been "cleared" of Islamic State militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years.
Other parts of the city are "contested," said U.S. Army Col. Christopher Garver, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, with clashes underway between Iraqi security forces and IS fighters. Most of the cleared terrain is in the south of the city and "clearing operations continue outward from the city center," Garver added.
Iraqi forces pushed into the center of Fallujah on Friday, retaking a government complex and the central hospital. That evening Brig. Gen. Haider al-Obedi, with Iraq's special forces, told The Associated Press his troops controlled 80 percent of the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Friday that Fallujah had "returned to the embrace of the nation," and that remaining IS pockets would be "cleaned out within hours."
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqi-commander-2500-militants-killed-fallujah-40008976
