		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>Iraq&#8217;s special forces troops have surrounded Fallujah ahead of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held city west of Baghdad.</p>
<p>The Iraqi government teamed up with paramilitary troops to launch a large-scale offensive, backed by aerial support from the US-led coalition, to dislodge militants from IS, also known as Daesh, from Fallujah last week.</p>
<p>The city, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, is one of the last major IS strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country&#8217;s north and west, including Mosul, Iraq&#8217;s second largest city.</p>
<p>The last battalion from Iraq&#8217;s Special Forces Service arrived at dawn on Sunday at the Tariq Camp outside Fallujah.</p>
<p>Troops have recaptured 80% of the territory around the city since the operation began and are currently battling IS to the north-east as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city centre.</p>
<p>Soldier Ali al-Shimmari said: &#8220;I&#8217;m totally ready for it. I phoned my family in the morning and asked them to pray for me to get back safe to them. I&#8217;m determined to end Daesh.&#8221;</p>
<p>The militants, meanwhile, launched an attack on Sunday on the town of Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, which was recaptured by government troops last month.</p>
<p>A military officer said the extremists entered three neighbourhoods and were engaged in heavy clashes with Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes.</p>
<p>By afternoon, the forces managed to push the militants out from two neighbourhoods, while fighting continued in another.</p>
<p>Fallujah, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall to IS.</p>
<p>The extremists seized control of Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they swept across northern and western Iraq and declared a caliphate.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2c94a9b24">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2c94a9b24',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
