Retaking Fallujah

The Iraqi army has begun its offensive to retake Fallujah from ISIL.


The Iraqi government says it has begun an assault on Fallujah, the first Iraqi city to fall to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), back in January 2014.

Few expect it to be an easy fight.

Government forces had been surrounding the city for months. And ISIL has had time to dig in and bolster its defences.

Fallujah's recapture would build on a series of recent victories against ISIL and leave Mosul as the armed group's only remaining foothold inside Iraq.