Iraqi prime minister announces military operation to retake Fallujah from Isis
Source: The Guardian
Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the beginning of military operations to retake the Islamic State-held held city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in a televised address late on Sunday night.
Iraqi forces were “approaching a moment of great victory” against Isis , said al-Abadi, who was surrounded by top military commanders from the ministry of defence and the country’s elite counter-terrorism forces. Fallujah is about 40 miles west of Baghdad and has been under the control of Isis for more than two years.
The announcement comes at a time of deepening political and social unrest in Baghdad. Clashes between protesters and Iraqi security forces inside Baghdad’s highly fortified green zone compound left four people dead after security forces fired tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition in an attempt to disperse the crowds. More than 100 people were wounded, said hospital and police officials. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to brief the press. The green zone houses most Iraqi government ministries and foreign embassies.
Al-Abadi’s office released a preliminary investigation on Sunday that claimed police and military guards did not fire directly into the crowd of demonstrators, according to a statement released on Sunday by Saad al-Hadithi, the prime minister’s spokesman.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/23/iraqi-pm-announces-military-operation-to-retake-fallujah-from-isis
Meanwhile:
Looming Raqqa assault carries political overtones for the US
Syrian Rebel Group with US Backing To Take On IS De Facto Capital
Unconfirmed Report: ISIS Calls on Raqqa Residents to Evacuate City
= new reply since forum marked as read
First the Americans with their white phosphorous war crimes
then the scourge of ISIS