ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Fallujah has been recaptured from the Islamic State group announced Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Friday. “Security forces have recaptured the center of Fallujah city,” Abadi said. There are a few neighborhoods which are yet to be retaken, Abadi continued, noting that “They will be recaptured in a few hours.” The Iraqi Prime Minister, who is also commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, said that Iraqi forces are cleaning up the remaining ISIS militants in the city so that those civilians who have fled can return to their homes. “Mosul is our next target,” Abadi added. Brett McGurk, Special US Presidential Envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition is also looking forwards to Mosul, noting on Twitter that ISIS lost Fallujah and, “Next stop for increasingly confident Iraqi Security Forces: #Mosul.” The Iraqi army and Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shaabi kicked off an offensive to regain control of Fallujah on May 22nd. Fallujah, 70km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been under ISIS control since June 2014. It was the first major centre the militant group seized control of in Iraq.
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