15 reported dead in Hashd al-Shaabi attack in Fallujah

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- A military official in Anbar announced Saturday that 15 members of a family were reportedly killed in a Hashd al-Shaabi attack in the Al Nasaf and Jubial districts of Fallujah.

On Friday evening Hash al-Shaabi targeted the areas with mortars and missiles, said Ibrahim Fahadawi, head of Khalidia security committee in Anbar.

Fahadawi told Rudaw, “A military operation is launched to retake Al Mazyaq district and to halt further ISIS advance. ”

The Hashd al-Shaabi rose up last year at a call from Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shiite cleric in Iraq, when ISIS fighters overran much of the country's western territory.

The militias, some of which have known ties to Iran, took the lead in the liberation of Tikrit earlier this year, which lead to subsequent allegations the fighters marginalized Sunni residents of the area.

The Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units, number at least 60,000.