Iraq declares defeat of Islamic State in Falluah

Iraqi forces have fully liberated Falluja from Islamic State militants after the capture of the last district held by the militants after nearly five weeks of fighting.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed victory in Falluja more than a week ago, but clashes continued inside the city west of Baghdad, including in its central Golan district.

Iraqi troops entered the north-western Golan neighbourhood, the head of the counterterrorism forces in the operation, Lt Gen Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, said on Sunday.

Saadi said the operation, which began in late May, was complete and the city was “fully liberated”. The Iraqi army was backed by US-led coalition airstrikes and paramilitary troops, mostly Shia militias.

“From the centre of Golan neighbourhood, we congratulate the Iraqi people and the commander in chief … and declare that the Falluja fight is over,” he told Iraqi state TV.

Flanked by jubilant fighters, some waving Iraqi flags, Saidi said a few militants were still holding out in buildings. At least 1,800 Islamic State fighters were killed in the operation to retake Falluja and the rest had fled, he said.

Falluja had been under the control of Isis since January 2014. It was the first major urban centre to fall to the group and was once considered to be a fortress that could take months to wrest back into government control.

The swift entry of Iraqi forces into central Falluja last week surprised many who expected a drawn-out battle with Islamic State for the bastion of Sunni insurgency, where some of the toughest fighting of the U.S. occupation took place after 2003.

The Iraqi government faces an enormous challenge in catering for more than 80,000 refugees who have fled Falluja to camps on the city’s outskirts and are short of water and food.

Karl Schembri, an official with the Norwegian Refugee Council which is running camps for displaced people, described the situation last week as deteriorating by the day and said the camps were “hell on earth”. Civilians are surviving on three litres of water a day in Iraq’s searing summer heat.

The conflict with Isis, which also controls large parts of neighbouring Syria, has forced more than 3.4 million Iraqis to flee their homes. More than 40% of the displaced are from Anbar province, according to the UN.

The collapse or retreat in Fallujah is the latest in a string of setbacks for Isis, which has recently come under sustained pressure on many fronts in Syria and Iraq.

The success of the Falluja operation launched on May 23 gives fresh momentum to Iraqi forces in the campaign to retake Mosul -- Islamic State's de facto capital in Iraq and by far the largest city in their self-proclaimed caliphate.