facing destruction of their city rather than its liberation from the Isis that has held it for 29 months. “It looks as if they are trying to destroy Fallujah rather than Daesh (Isis),” said one inhabitant.
A fighting force of some 20,000 Iraqi soldiers, special forces, Interior Ministry troops, tribal fighters, militia groups known as the Hashd al-Shaabi and an uncertain number of US advisers are tightening the siege of Fallujah. But they are deeply divided politically and as are as opposed to each other almost as much as they are hostile to Isis.
The biggest divide is between the Iraqi regular armed forces, including two brigades of Special Forces who usually act as assault troops, and the Hashd, most of whom belong to Shia paramilitary movements, though there are also Sunni units. The US is keen to keep the Shia Hashd out of the fighting on the grounds that they are under the influence of Iran and are seen as a threat by the overwhelmingly Sunni population of Fallujah.
The political, military and sectarian fragmentation of Iraq is reflected in the line-up of the attacking force. An Iraqi commentator, part of whose family is still inside Fallujah, said that the US-led Coalition “will not support the operation launched from north and east of Fallujah, but it will support the Iraqi Sunni forces, including Anbar police and the Sunni tribal Hashd that will start the operation from the south side of Ramadi and the town of Amariyat Al Fallujah 35 kilometres away.”
Inside Isis secret tunnels
A number of families, variously estimated to number between 20 and 80, did manage to get to Amariyat Fallujah further south on the Euphrates in the last twenty four hours. But Isis has issued a warning that anybody who appears on the street will be targeted by their snipers.
The military problems faced by the forces trying to take Fallujah, particularly they do not want to destroy it, will be difficult. Isis is estimated to have some 900 fighters in the town who are experienced in street fighting using not only snipers but IEDS, booby traps, mortar teams and suicide bombers. They commonly dig a warren of underground tunnels so they can remain hidden or suddenly appear behind enemy forces.
What is not known is whether Isis will make a last stand in Fallujah sacrificing experienced fighters or withdraw at the last moment having inflicted maximum casualties on the other side. Though it has lost Ramadi in Iraq, Palmyra in Syria and a string of towns and villages over the last year, Isis has generally tried to preserve its fighters and heavy equipment. So far the ground fighting has not been heavy with 35 Iraqi soldiers and 15 civilians reported killed.
But Fallujah may be different because its conquest or loss carries greater political significance. It is a town famous for its religious fervour and for fighting the US Marines in two famous sieges in 2004. It was the first big victory of Isis in 2014, six months before the fall of Mosul.
Isis military leaders are reverting to guerrilla warfare in order to prolong the war and because of their opponents’ vastly superior fire power, but they may well calculate that they cannot afford to lose Fallujah without a long battle. The government likewise needs to take Fallujah to shore up its credibility because people in Baghdad see it as the source of suicide bombings which killed 200 civilians in the capital earlier this month.source The Independent News.
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