UPDATE: The Iraqi army shelled Falluja overnight in an attempt to dislodge the Islamic State of Iraq, killing at least eight people and injuring 30.
The commander of Iraq’s ground forces, Staff General Ali Ghaidan Majeed, said security forces killed 55 ISI fighters in two areas of Anbar Province near the disputed cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
However, a senior security official in Anbar said Fallujah was now controlled by ISI.
Insurgents of the Islamic State of Iraq have advanced in Ramadi and held part of Fallujah in Iraq’s Anbar Province, despite efforts by security forces and tribesmen to regain control.
ISI deployed snipers on one street in Ramadi, two of whom were killed by the Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service later in the day, according State TV.
The report said the government forces “burned four vehicles carrying terrorists” in Ramadi and 10 insurgents had been killed in the city.
Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, a senior leader of the Sahwa armed group fighting with the Government, said 62 ISI fighters had been slain. Among those killed was Abu Abdul Rahman al-Baghdadi, the Emir of ISIS in Ramadi.
Meanwhile, a police lieutenant colonel said soldiers deployed around Fallujah were yet to enter the city.
At the moment, there is no presence of the Iraqi state in Fallujah. The police and the army have abandoned the city, al-Qaeda has taken down all the Iraqi flags and burned them, and it has raised its own flag on all the buildings.
The journalist said that, at Friday prayers, a masked ISIS fighter addressed thousands of people. He declared the establishment of an “Islamic emirate” in Fallujah and promising to help residents fight the Iraqi Government:
We don’t want to hurt you. We don’t want to take any of your possessions. We want you to reopen the schools and institutions and return to your normal lives.
The extent of the militants’ control over the city was unclear, however. Some local tribes were challenging their presence, and there were scattered firefights, according to another Fallujah resident who also did not want to be named because he is afraid. The Iraqi army fired shells into Fallujah from bases outside the city, killing at least 17 people, and most residents spent the day hiding indoors, he said.
The ISI moved into the cities on Thursday, amid long-running clashes between the Government and mainly-Sunni protesters in Anbar. Earlier this week, at least 11 people were killed in Ramadi and Fallujah following a raid by security forces on the main protest camp.
