BAGHDAD -Iraqi forces recaptured the government compound in central Fallujah on Friday, making rapid advances against Islamic State militants who have held the city for more than two years.
Commanders said they were close to claiming victory in the city, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, after retaking several central neighborhoods. Islamic State has been “broken” in the city, said police spokesman Col. Abdelrahman al Khazali.
Defeating Islamic State in Fallujah would deprive the militants of one of their last strongholds in Iraq, and give a boost to embattled Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Dubbed the “City of Mosques’ and symbolic importance to Sunni Muslims, Fallujah was the first city in the country to fall to the militants.
But with the local population commonly perceived as being sympathetic to the extremists, there have been concerns for the safety of remaining civilians as Iraqi forces advance.
Government forces have been supported by Shiite militias, which are operating on the city’s outskirts have been accused of human rights abuses against those fleeing.
Aid agencies said there was a dramatic surge of civilians out of Fallujah overnight and that they were struggling to provide even the most basic assistance to those displaced.
The Iraqi flag was raised over the local council building in the city, the Iraqi military said in a statement. Lt. Gen. Abdelwahab al-Saedi, commander of the Fallujah operation, said Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces had surrounded the city’s hospital, where militants were holed up.
He added that his forces were within 50 yards of the building, and made preparations to possibly storm the site. Commanders reported that Nazzal, Saray, Sinai and al-Andalus neighborhoods and the city’s cemetery had all been retaken.
“They’ve realized it’s a lost cause and they are running away,” said Maj. Gen. Saad Harbiya, an Iraqi army commander.
Abadi announced an operation to regain control of the city last month, going against the advice of the United States to instead focus on the larger Islamic State-held city of Mosul farther north.
Abadi, however, is under pressure to score a quick win against the militants after mass street protests in Baghdad against his government. Mosul is a more politically complicated operation, which involves coordination between Baghdad and the semi-autonomous government in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region.
U.S.-led airstrikes have played a key role in supporting the Fallujah operation, commanders said. Noori predicted entire city to be under the control of Iraqi government forces “soon.”
The Norwegian Refugee Council said the sudden surge of fleeing civilians was “overwhelming,” already overstretched emergency aid provision south of Fallujah.
A sudden retreat of Islamic State fighters at key checkpoints inside Fallujah allowed civilians to leave in “droves,” spokesman Karl Schembri said in a statement on Thursday. The aid group does not have exact figures on how many left, he said.
“The vast majority are sleeping in the open air,” he said. “Drinking water remains in dangerously short supply, as is the availability of latrines and tents.”
