Kurdish forces are also attempting to take back the city of Mosul, while ISIS militants have stepped up suicide bombings across Iraq.
Iraqi forces began a key push in the campaign to take back the ISIS-held city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, on Monday.
The city has been under ISIS control for more than two years. The bid to take back the city is being supported by paramilitary troops, and is receiving aerial assistance from the U.S.-led coalition, the Associated Press reported.
Fallujah is considered important to ISIS because it acts as a staging ground from where they plan and undertake attacks in Baghdad and Sadr City.
Earlier this month, Baghdad and Sadr City were hit by three bombs in the space of just a few hours, killing 80 people on the deadliest the Iraqi capital had seen in a year.
If the recapturing of Fallujah is successful, ISIS will be pinned back towards the city of Mosul, which effectively acts as the capital of the territory the group has captured in Iraq. This would mean the Islamic group would have greater difficulty gaining more territory across the country.
It would also be a symbolic boost to the Iraqi government, as Fallujah was the first city to fall to ISIS.
Uncredited / AP
There are an estimated 50,000 civilians trapped inside Fallujah, the BBC reported.
There have also been reports of people starving to death, and of being killed if they refuse to follow ISIS orders.
Uncredited / AP
Ahmad Al-rubaye / AFP / Getty Images
via BuzzFeed - World http://ift.tt/1Uoo0Zi
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment