ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Several Iranian officers are involved in the Iraqi army offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Fallujah in an advising and commanding capacity, according to Rudaw’s frontline correspondent, while local troops complain of little support they have received from the international coalition.
“Several Iranian military officers have participated in Saqlawiyah fight alongside the Shiite militia known as Hashd al Shaabi,” reported Rudaw correspondent Bahman Hassan outside Fallujah.
Hassan who has been covering the battle for Fallujah since its launch more than a week ago that the Iranian officers “have played a good role in managing the fight”
Iranian military advisors, chief among them, Quds forces commander Qassem Soleimani, have commanded Shiite militia men against ISIS in the last two years particularly in Diyala and Tikrit.
Iranian military officials have also boasted in the past that they saved the Iraqi capital Baghdad from falling to ISIS in the summer of 2014.
Shiite militiamen known as Hashd al-Shaabi who have fought alongside government forces in the last two years, told Rudaw that they have received very little support from the international coalition in recent months especially in the ongoing Fallujah operation.
On the situation of civilians who have fled Fallujah and settled in Amiriyah camp, our correspondent said that “they live in very poor conditions and the militiamen have taken some of their family members to unknown locations”
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) estimates that a mere 3,000 people have managed to escape Fallujah while 50,000 more civilians are believed to be trapped inside the city with no way out.
