Third Battle of Fallujah

The Third Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Breaking Terrorism (Arabic: عملية كسر الإرهاب) by the Iraqi government, was a military operation against ISIL launched to capture the city of Fallujah and its suburbs, located about 69 kilometres (43 mi) west of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. The operation began on 22 May 2016,^{[citation needed]} three months after the Iraqi forces had started the total siege of Fallujah. On 26 June, Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah, before recapturing the remaining pocket of ISIL resistance in Fallujah's western outskirts two days later.

Fallujah was the first city seized by ISIL in Iraq in January 2014. Iraqi forces completely surrounded the western city after they recaptured Ramadi in February 2016.

Fallujah was considered to be the second most important stronghold of ISIL in Iraq, after Mosul.

The Iraqi Army published a statement on 22 May 2016, and asked residents of the battlefield to leave the area through secured routes. The Iraqi Army also said that local residents who could not move should raise white flags on top of their roofs.

Prior to the Battle of Fallujah, some Shia militias framed the impending campaign using extreme rhetoric, referring to the city as a "tumor" to be eradicated, as "Fallujah the whore," and as a "nest of traitors and criminals." The fight to retake Fallujah was often portrayed sectarian terms: for instance, one Shia militia launched rockets at the city painted with the word "Nimr" – referring to Nimr al-Nimr, the Shia cleric executed by Saudi Arabia earlier that year.

Haider al-Abadi ordered to begin the operation early on Monday, 23 May. "The Iraqi flag will be raised high over the land of Fallujah," said al-Abadi. On 23 May 2016, it was reported the city of Al-Karmah was recaptured by Shiite militias belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Photos published by a PMF source show Iran's Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and other PMF commanders discussing Fallujah battle strategies. On the first day of the offensive 11 further villages and districts near Fallujah were recaptured, which forced ISIL fighters to retreat to the interior of the strategically important city. The offensive was slowed down due to the discovery of hundreds of improvised explosive devices in the outskirts of the city.

The Popular Mobilization Forces declared on 23 May that they had captured Al-Karmah, about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi)northeast of Fallujah, which brings most of the territory east of Fallujah under Iraqi government control. They also announced the seizure of al-Harariyat, al-Shahabi and al-Dwaya and the killing of 40 ISIL militants during the military operation. The Iraqi government announced that pro-government fighters had captured the villages of Luhaib and Albu Khanfar on 24 May.

On 23 May, 16 villages and districts on the eastern outskirts of Fallujah had been cleared by the Iraqi Security Forces. Included in this were the gains from a column in the northeast, which took the village of Sejar days after the recapture of Al-Karmah. These clashes resulted in the death of 40 ISIL militants. By 25 May, a total of 163 ISIL militants, 15 civilians and 35 members of the Iraqi forces and militiamen were killed in clashes which gained the Iraqi army control over the remaining districts in the southeast, allowing them to create a corridor that cut the ISIL-controlled zone in two. During the day, it was reported an Iranian Basij member was killed in fighting near Fallujah. According to Qasm Araji, a member of the defense committee, the advancing forces are continuously gaining ground and "nearing Fallujah's Eastern gate."