Iraqi troops have entered the northwestern al-Julan neighborhood, the last area of Fallujah to remain under Daesh control, the head of the counterterrorism forces in the operation, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, told the Associated Press.
Al-Saadi said the operation, which began late May, “is done and the city is fully liberated.”
“From the center of al-Julan neighborhood, we congratulate the Iraqi people and the commander in chief…and declare that the Fallujah fight is over,” he told Iraqi state TV, flanked by military officers and soldiers. Some of the soldiers were shooting in the air, chanting and waving the Iraqi flag.
Fallujah has been under the control of Daesh terrorists since January 2014.
Fallujah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, was the first city to fall to Daesh in January 2014.
During an insurgency waged by Daesh group’s terrorist predecessor, al-Qaeda in Iraq, Fallujah was the scene of some of the bloodiest urban combat with American forces. In 2004, more than 100 US troops died and another 1,000 were wounded fighting insurgents in house-to-house battles.
Daesh still control significant areas in northern and western Iraq, including the country’s second-largest city of Mosul. The group declared a caliphate on the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria and at the height of its power was estimated to hold nearly a third of each country.