Thu Jun 30, 2016 15:41:24
Iraqi security forces fought off Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL) militants outside Fallujah in a battle that lasted around 15 hours from the late hours of Tuesday to noon on Wednesday.
A convoy of vehicles belonging to the militants lay at the side of the road as bodies lay on the ground and soldiers claimed the bodies were of Saudi foreign fighters.
Staff Brigadier-General Ismail Al-Hialy said security forces engaged in a lengthy battle with the militants. “At 20:30 the enemy managed to infiltrate our defensive lines after heavy clashes with the forces responsible for its defense, we destroyed a bulldozer after it breached the barrier. The battle lasted from 20:30 last night until noon today. We destroyed all the forces that got out of Albu Aifan area from what they used to call Fallujah province.”
Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah on Sunday and the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the battle over, after nearly five weeks of fighting the militants.
The assault is part of a wider offensive by Iraqi forces against Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL) militants who seized swathes of territory in 2014 but are now being driven back by an array of forces backed by a US-led coalition.
The militants seized Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they declared a “caliphate” over parts of Syria and Iraq.
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