Iraq Forces 'Break Into' IS-Held Fallujah

Iraqi forces have entered Fallujah as they start a new phase of their plan to win back one of Islamic State's key cities.


Troops went into Fallujah from three directions, a spokesman for Iraq's elite counterterror service told the AFP agency.
"We started early this morning our operations to break into Fallujah," said Sabah al-Norman.
The move was also confirmed to a crew from Reuters - who reported hearing explosions in the city's southern Naimiya district.
Despite many people having fled Fallujah, 50,000 are estimated to still be trapped in the city about 40 miles west of Baghdad.
The army, backed by an Iranian-backed Shia militia, began the push to take back the city on 23 May and has tightened its grip on the surrounding region.
Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to be captured by Islamic State.
The took control in January 2014, six months before announcing a self-proclaimed caliphate in areas of Iraq and Syria.
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The Norwegian Refugee Council said before the attack it was "receiving hundreds of displaced Iraqis from the outskirts of Fallujah who are totally exhausted, afraid and hungry".
The city had a population of over 320,000 in 2010 but this has dwindled with the remaining residents caught between the fighting and enduring food and medicine shortages.

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