09 July 2015

The Anbar Council announced today that more than 70% of the Saqlawiya area is now under the security forces’ control. The Council also stated that the next phase will be an assault on Fallujah to liberate it from the ISIL gunmen, reaffirming that Fallujah is now fully surrounded by security forces. Meanwhile the central and northern districts of the city have been bombarded from the air. The ongoing indiscriminate bombardment between the security forces and the ISIL gunmen has, according to a General Hospital source, killed 7 residents, including 3 women and a child, and injured 19 others.

In Garma, security forces have killed 5 ISIL gunmen in their continuing drive to enter and liberate the town center, given that all the access roads and streets have been mined and many buildings have been rigged with explosives by the gunmen. Meanwhile, security sources have reported that their forces have liberated all of the areas between Garma twnship and the the administrative boundary with Salahuddin Province.

In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah since yesterday evening, the township has been bombarded by ISIL mortar fire. At least 30 mortar rounds have struck a number of the town’s districts, causing major structural damage within the town.

In Ramadi, strict security measures are being enforced all around the city’s perimeter, while fierce clashes have been underway in eastern Husayba and Juwayba, east of the city. Coalition and Iraqi air strikes have once again targeted a number of ISIL positions within the city: there are reports that 7 gunmen have been killed by the strikes.

In Baghdadi, strict security measures are in force, following a number of ISIL attacks during the past two days. Clashes between security forces and attacking gunmen erupted in the southwestern sector of the town where the town’s residential complex is located.

08 July 2015

In Saqlawiya and the areas around Fallujah, fierce clashes are continuing in the areas west of Fallujah, aimed at establishing a stranglehold on the ISIL-held city, prior to the awaited military operation to liberate the city.

In Garma, ISIL gunmen are preventing resident families from fleeing to safer areas outside the township, while some families have been killed while attempting to make their way out. The residential districts in Saqlawiya have been hit by mortar fire. Two families, each one consisting of 8 members were all killed by the gunmen. The mortar bombardment killed at least 23 residents, mostly women and children, and wounded at least 29 in and around Saqlawiya.

In Fallujah, the General Hospital has reported that 12 residents, including 3 women and 4 children, were killed and at least 19 were wounded by the indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between security forces holding the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen occupying the city. The city’s central and northern residential districts were most affected by the incoming bombardment.

In Ramadi, security forces are still holding the entire perimeter of the city, while aerial attacks are being launched against ISIL positions and concentrations within the city’s northern and northeastern districts. Other air attacks have similarly targeted positions in the southern sector.

07 July 2015

In Fallujah today, the ongoing indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between security forces along the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city have, according to the latest General Hospital count, killed at least 42 residents, including women and children, and wounded at least 72. The incoming fire struck the central and northern residential districts, and Saqlawiya, Sichir, and Nu’aymiya. There has also been a mass migration of Fallujah civilians trying to find safer areas elsewhere.

Meanwhile Iraqi gun ships and Coalition warplanes have carried out air strikes on a number of ISIL positions, reportedly killing at least 23 gunmen.

In Garma, fighting is continuing around the town center that security forces have not yet been able to enter. Most of the towns, other districts and environs have also been the scenes of clashes and bombardments.

In Ramadi, strict security measures are still in place around the city’s perimeter, while security forces have turned back a number of probing attacks east of Ramadi, and in the city’s northern sector.

Iraqi gun ships have again targeted a number of ISIL positions all over the city. There were also clashes in the southwestern sector of the city, and security forces were able to blow up 3 explosive-rigged vehicles

ISIL gunmen have carried out attacks in Haditha, Baghdadi, Haqlaniya, and Birwana; security forces successfully turned back the attacking gunmen. There have also been clashes in southwestern Haditha. Iraqi air support and Coalition warplanes have also been in action against targets along Haditha’s perimeter.

In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, security forces have reported that ISIL mortar fire has struck within the town, wounding 4 civilians and causing heavy structural damage to buildings within the town.

06 July 2015

In Haditha today, ISIL has launched the second attack of its kind in two days, from the east and from the northwest of the township. The attack involved six explosives-rigged vehicles that attempted to penetrate into parts of Haqlaniya and Khasfa, but security forces with Iraqi air support bombed three of the vehicles before they could reach their targets. The other three vehicles became involved in a direct confrontation. The ensuing clashes are still continuing, amid reports that ISIL forces are planning further attacks.

Also today, ISIL launched an attack on Baghdadi that lies between Hit and Haditha. Security forces repelled two attacks: from the east and from the southwest. Many mortar rounds were fired by the gunmen at the residential complex in southwestern Baghdadi. Security forces have announced that they are in control of the situation, although some skirmishes are still taking place.

Beginning last night, security forces are involved in a major military operation to liberate the Saqlawiya area in the countryside of Fallujah. They have liberated the Technical Institute building in Saqlawiya and the Saqwlawiya Bridge that links the area to Fallujah. ISIL gunmen have been preventing Saqlawiya residents from fleeing to other areas of the Province.

The Fallujah General Hospital has confirmed that 24 civilians were killed and at least 59 wounded by the indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between security forces around the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city.

05 July 2015

In Ramadi today, Iraqi gun ships struck a location being used as a playground by children in central Ramadi. The latest casualty count lists 36 residents as being killed and 24 as being wounded. This represents the highest number of casualties to fall in a single incident.

In Haditha, an ISIL attack using 6 explosives-rigged vehicles was launched from the western outskirts of the town. Security forces were able to destroy the vehicles and to thwart the attack aimed at seizing the town’s western sector. All of the gunmen aboard the vehicles were killed.

In Garma, security forces are still surrounding the town center but they have not been able to overrun the ISIL position in the center, but they have killed at least 9 of the gunmen.

People’s Mobilization fighters have taken control of the ‘Japanese’ Bridge and three Saqlawiya areas in the southwestern outskirts of Fallujah. The areas across the bridge have also been taken over by security forces.

In Fallujah, the indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between security forces along the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city has resulted in the killing of at least 17 residents including 4 children and 3 women, and wounding at least 28 by the bombardment of the city’s central and northern residential districts.

In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, stringent security measures are still in place, ahead of an expected ISIL attack. Meanwhile, ISIL mortar has caused material damage within the town but there were no casualties. 

04 July 2015

In Fallujah, a General Hospital source announced today that at least 21 residents were killed and at least 35 were wounded by the indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between security forces controlling the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen who have been holding the city for more than one year. The affected areas have been the central and southern residential districts. 4 civilians were also killed and at least 17 were wounded in the Saqlawiya area that also sustained extensive material damage.

In Garma, there have been fierce clashes between security forces attempting to move into and seize the town center and the ISIL gunmen who are still in control of the center. A number of gunmen were killed, including one of their leading snipers.

In Ramadi, security forces are still surrounding the city; they have not yet advanced on the ground, while air attacks are being launched against targets and positions in central, northern, and southwestern sectors of the city. Anbar Operations have reported that at least 11 ISIL gunmen have been killed by the air campaign.

In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, mortar, rocket, and artillery fire has struck the town’s residential districts, wounding 3 residents. Meanwhile, security forces are still enforcing a curfew on the township’s southern and southwestern sectors in anticipation of an imminent reported ISIL attack.

02 July 2015

In the areas between Garma and Fallujah, ISIL has launched a number of attacks on the military barracks in the southwestern sector of Fallujah and the areas around Garma township. A number of security personnel and People’s Mobilization fighters were killed and more recent reports indicate that at least 18 of the ISIL gunmen were killed. Within Fallujah, heavy mortar and artillery bombardment as part of the daily bombardment exchanges between security forces on the city’s perimeter and the ISIL gunmen holding the city, has, according to General Hospital sources, killed 13 residents and wounded 9, mostly women and children. 

In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, a curfew has been in place since yesterday evening throughout the town, in anticipation of a reported imminent ISIL attack on the township. 

In Ramadi, security forces are maintaining their stranglehold around the city’s perimeter. The forces have gained ground into the eastern reaches of Ramadi. Iraqi gun ships have once again struck a number of targets and ISIL positions. Reports indicate that at least 22 gunmen were killed in those strikes in Ramadi’s southeastern and southwestern sectors. 

In Baghdadi and Haditha, the situation remains unchanged, with residents experiencing severe hardship as a result of the huge shortages of food and medical supplies.