Baghdad Claims Progress in Falluja; 164 Killed Across Iraq
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited
the Falluja frontlines personally and announced that troops had made
more progress than expected. So far the fight has focused on
the outskirts of the city and in nearby towns and other areas. An agricultural
area in Garma was recaptured,
and troops advanced
into Nuaimiya. Saqlawiya appears
to be in Iraqi hands as well. Several smaller villages were also
retaken.
The mayor of Falluja warned
that 50,000 residents are still in the city; some estimates are closer to
100,000 people. Local tribes report
that the majority of Islamic State militants in Anbar are foreigners.
At least 164 people were killed and 38 were wounded:
A source at the Falluja medical center said that seven
civilians were killed and 21 were wounded during shelling; two
militants were killed and two were wounded in the same attack. Three
people were killed trying to escape the city. At least 39 more militants were
killed in various locations and four were wounded;
among them was the militant governor of Falluja. The number of casualties is
likely higher.
Forty
militants were killed during operations in Garma.
Security forces killed
14 militants in Nuaimiya.
In Baghdad, a bomb in the Iskan district killed
one person and wounded eight more.
Three
former Iraqi officers were executed in Qayara.
Gunmen wounded
two people in Iskandariya.
A strike on Hud left 21
militants dead.
As many as 15
militants were killed in strikes on the Hamrin Hills.
Eleven
militants were killed in Albu Aitha and Albu Faraj.
In Mosul, an airstrike killed
nine militants. Militants are now testing chemical
weapons on their prisoners.