The Iraqi army is preparing to raid the city of Fallujah to end a month-long standoff with al-Qaeda-linked militants controlling Anbar province, officials said. The anti-govt militants inside the city were sent a “final warning” to lay down their weapons.
Areas in the Anbar province west of Baghdad have been occupied by
the members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
and other anti-government Islamic militants and tribesmen not
affiliated with Al-Qaeda since late December.
“That's it,” a top security official told Reuters on
Saturday. “[Militants] were given enough time to make their
choice, but they failed.”
A decision had been made to storm Fallujah by 1500 GMT on Sunday,
an official said on condition of anonymity.
Those inside the city have been sent a “final warning”
to lay down their weapons and leave the city, seizing the
opportunity to get amnesty, official added. Whoever remains in
Fallujah and offers resistance will be treated as a militant.
“The message was clear, we offered them to leave the city and
be a part of the national reconciliation project,” the
security official said. “But, if anyone insists on fighting
our forces, he will be considered an ISIL militant whether he is
or not.”
Government troops deployed in the area also confirmed they
received orders to be ready for an offensive.
“We are prepared to enter any minute,” one of the
soldiers told Reuters. “Some of our troops in southern and
southeastern Fallujah have already moved in closer to the
city.”
The government is preparing to intensify airstrikes on the city,
clearing the ground for an assault by special forces. “We
expect to engage in a fierce battle in the southern areas of the
city where militants are holed up,” SWAT officer told
Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Two weeks ago, Iraq’s deputy interior minister warned that ISIL
have adequate weaponry to siege the capital
Baghdad. "The weapons that were brought inside Fallujah are
huge and advanced and frankly enough to occupy Baghdad,"
Adnan Al-Asadi said.
Up until now, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been hesitant to
launch a full-scale assault on the city, instead hoping that the
local tribes change their mind and expel militants from the area.
Maliki also appealed for international support and weapons to
help resolve the crisis, prompting the US to accelerate it
military supplies to Iraq. Since its
withdrawal from Iraq, the United States has donated more than $14
billion worth of weapons to the embattled country.
So far, the standoff in Anbar province has seen hundreds of
people killed and forced more than 140,000 people to flee their
homes, the UN refugee agency said.
Overall, violence in Iraq has been on the rise over the past year
and January became the deadliest month since April 2008, with
suicide bombings and other violence across Iraq having claimed
the lives of more than 1,000 people, almost 800 of whom were civilians.