Photos: The battle for Fallujah, Iraq
Iraqi security forces raise an Iraqi flag as they hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured in central Fallujah, Iraq, after fighting against the Islamic State militants on June 17, 2016.
(Uncredited / AP)Chicago Tribune
In May of 2016, Iraqi government forces, with help from airstrikes from a U.S. led coalition, began their campaign to retake the city of Fallujah from Islamic State, which held the city for more than two years.
People take part in a celebration June 18, 2016, after Iraqi special forces entered the center of Fallujah after fighting Islamic State militants, at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq.
(Hadi Mizban / AP)
A soldier from Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces looks from the gun turret of a Humvee as troops gather on the edge of the Shuhada neighborhood in Islamic State-held Fallujah, Iraq, just before special forces pushed into the district Wednesday, June 8, 2016.
(Maya Alleruzzo / AP)
A truck mounted with a home-made rocket launcher is parked on the front line as Iraqi pro-government forces hold a position near the village of al-Azraqiyah northwest of Fallujah on June 5, 2016.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)Advertisement
Iraqi government forces drink running water next to houses in the village of al-Azraqiyah as they advance toward the center of Saqlawiyah northwest of Fallujah on June 4, 2016, during an operation to regain territory from the Islamic State group.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
A member of the Iraqi government forces holds a position on the front line near the village of al-Azraqiyah, northwest of the city of Fallujah, on June 5, 2016, during an operation to regain control of the area from Islamic State.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi pro-government forces and Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilisation units fire rockets from the village of al-Azraqiyah toward Islamic State positions in the city of Fallujah on June 4, 2016.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
Smoke billows during fighting between Iraqi government forces and Islamic State as seen from an area on the southern outskirts of Fallujah on June 1, 2016.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)Advertisement
Iraqi army general in charge of the Fallujah operation Abdel Wahab al-Saadi walks among troops in an area on the southern outskirts of Fallujah on June 1, 2016.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
A member of the Iraqi pro-governement forces fires his weapon on a front line in the Albu Huwa area, south of Fallujah near the Euphrates river, on May 31, 2016, during an operation aimed at retaking areas from the Islamic State group.
(Moadh Al-Dulaimi, AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi pro-governement forces fire their weapons on a front line in the Albu Huwa area south of Fallujah near the Euphrates River on May 31, 2016, during an operation aimed at retaking areas from Islamic State.
(Moadh Al-Dulaimi, AFP/Getty Images)
A displaced Iraqi woman stands outside a tent at a newly-opened camp in the government-held town of Amriyat al-Fallujah on May 29, 2016, which was set up to shelter people fleeing violence around the city of Fallujah.
(Ahmad Mousa, AFP/Getty Images)Advertisement
Iraq’s counter-terrorism service reaches al-Sejar village in Iraq’s Anbar province on the boundaries of Fallujah on May 28, 2016.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
Iraq’s counter-terrorism service reaches al-Sejar village in Iraq’s Anbar province on the boundaries of Fallujah on May 28, 2016, as part of a major assault to retake the city of Fallujah from Islamic State.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
Pro-government fighters fire a rocket in the al-Sejar village in Iraq’s Anbar province on May 27, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city of Fallujah from Islamic State.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi pro-government forces advance toward the city of Fallujah on May 23, 2016, as part of a major assault to retake the city from Islamic State.
(Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)