Iraqi commander Shakr Jawdat announced in a statement that “serious clashes with the Daesh gunmen as a part of the Fallujah operation on Tuesday ended with the liberation of three villages of Haswahm, Albu Awda and Abbasian from the gunmen.” He used an Arabic acronym for ISIS, adding that “at least 10 Daesh were killed and four of their vehicles were destroyed.”
Reports stated that 80 families have escaped Fallujah in the last few days with more than 10,000 more stuck inside the city.
The Iraqi army is less than a kilometer away from Fallujah, the Anbar provincial council announced.
The military warned Fallujah's civilians to flee if possible on Sunday ahead of the operation. This will, however, prove difficult given the IEDs planted on the roadsides leading out of the city.
While Iraqi military and paramilitary forces have had the city encircled for over a year this is their first serious attempt to force the militants from the city.
ISIS initially captured Fallujah back in January 2014 making it the first and longest city it has controlled in Iraq.
