Iraqi forces finally liberate Fallujah
A senior Iraqi commander yesterday declared the city of Fallujah "fully liberated" from Islamic State after a more than month-long military operation.The head of the counterterrorism forces in the operation, Lieutenant-General Abdul-Wahad al-Saadi, said his troops had entered the northwestern al-Julan neighbourhood, the last area under IS control.Al-Saadi said the operation was "done and the city is fully liberated".Fallujah, 40km west of Baghdad, has been under IS control since January 2014.On Saturday the army said it was screening 20,000 people leaving Fallujah to stop jihadists escaping among civilians.Some of those screened have accused security forces of beating and torturing them.Relatives mobbed Iraqi officials at a camp for the displaced last week to ask about the fate of hundreds of missing males.One man said he was held for four days without anything to drink or eat by the Popular Mobilisation forces, an umbrella organisation for volunteer fighters dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militia.Of those detained, 2185 were suspects based on testimonies or other information; 11605 were released and about 7000 are still being checked, said a spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command. ..
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