The police chief of Iraq’s Anbar Province, Hadi Razeij, said on Saturday that the Government has lost control of the city of Fallujah to fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq.
Razeij said ISI was in full control of the center of Fallujah, “The walls of the city are in the hands of the police force, but the people of Fallujah are the prisoners of ISIL.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, speaking on State TV, vowed to eliminate “all terrorist groups” and end sedition: “[We will] not back down until we end all terrorist groups and save our people in Anbar.”
See also Islamic State of Iraq Fights for Control of Ramadi & Fallujah
Videos showed ISI fighters in control of the main Fallujah highway, and officials and witnesses said the group was in the northern and northeastern parts of the city.
However, analyst Kirk Sowell writes that the takeover is more complex than “ISI”, with a collection of anti-Government groups, the “Council of Tribal Revolutionaries”, establishing authority:
Tribal leaders held meeting in Fallujah yesterday to organize police control in the city.
@Salman_Shaikh1 @kfahim @YasirGhazi1 @tarangoNYT
— Kirk H. Sowell (@UticensisRisk) January 5, 2014
I can't say what % Fallujah controlled by who, but majority appears to be non-AQ militants
@Salman_Shaikh1 @kfahim @YasirGhazi1 @tarangoNYT
— Kirk H. Sowell (@UticensisRisk) January 5, 2014
Fighting continues in Ramadi, also in Anbar, with Government forces and supporting tribes trying to prevent ISI’s takeover of the city.
Clashes escalated on Friday, following the arrest of a prominent MP from Anbar and a Government crackdown on long-running, mainly-Sunni protests earlier in the week.
