ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- The mayor of Fallujah city, Essa Al-Essawi on Saturday warned of “further destruction of civilian properties” in his hometown, which has long been viewed as the bastion of the Sunni insurgency in the country. Iraqi media outlets have published a series of video images allegedly showing fighters of the Shiite militia, known as the Hashd-al-Shaabi, setting fire on residential houses and demolishing buildings in what appears to be neighborhoods in Fallujah city which was retaken from ISIS militants last week. “The destruction acts were perpetrated by undisciplined fighters of the Shiite militia known as Hashd al Shaabi who entered the town after its liberation,” Al-Essawi told Rudaw. Speaking about the current conditions in Fallujah and the aftermath of the offensive, the mayor said “the town is now fully demolished due to the military operations.” The spokesman of the Shiite militia, Kareem Noori, however, has categorically denied the allegations and said, “the images of burnt houses were either from Aleppo or Idlib” in Syria where clashes are still ongoing. “Hashd al Shaabi troops are fighting in Southern Saqlawiyah and are not based inside Saqlawiyah or in any other liberated areas,” Noori told Rudaw. “We are shocked by the recent charges since our forces managed to gain victory over ISIS in many other battles,” he continued. Noori slammed the Iraqi media outlets for “attacking Hashd al-Shaabi” with what he described as “political intentions.” Fallujah, 70km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad has virtually been under ISIS rule since June 2014. It was the first major center the militant group seized control of in Iraq. The Iraqi army and Shiite militia known kicked off an offensive to regain control of the city on May 22. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi officially announced last week that Fallujah had been recaptured from the Islamic State group. Also in recent weeks, the governor of Anbar, where Fallujah is located, came out with a damning report on “killings, torture and imprisonment of Fallujah civilians by members of the Iraqi Shiite militia” who have been backing government troops in the battle for the city and demanded “the destruction of the predominately Sunni town should be stopped.” “Through testimonies of survivors and those who were detained by Hashd al-Shabi we gathered that the abuses include assassinations, killings, torture and forceful lock-up,” governor Suhaib al-Rawi has said.
