- Title: Shi'ite leader says militia will not enter Falluja
- Date: 24th May 2016
- Summary: OUTSKIRTS FALLUJA, ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ, (MAY 24, 2016) (REUTERS) IRAQI FORCES AND SHI'ITE HASHID SHAABI FIGHTERS AND MILITARY VEHICLES IRAQI FORCES GATHERED AROUND THEIR VEHICLES IRAQI MILITARY VEHICLES AND SOLDIERS IRAQI SOLDIERS AND POLICE FORCE STANDING WITH THEIR VEHICLES COLUMN OF MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING UP ROAD HASHID SHAABI FIGHTERS IN BACK OF PICKUP TRUCK FLASHING "V" SIGN AREA ON OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA /AUDIO OF GUNFIRE WHITE SMOKE BILLOWING FROM BOMBED TARGET EMPTY AREA / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE VEHICLES DRIVING ON DIRT ROAD/ AUDIO OF GUNFIRE TWO HASHID SHAABI FIGHTERS FIRING WEAPONS HASHID FIGHTERS WAVING "V" SIGN HASHID SHAABI FIGHTERS NEXT TO TRUCK WITH IRAQI FLAG AND GREEN BANNER WITH IMAGE OF SHI'ITE REVERED IMAM HUSSEIN IRAQI ARMY AND POLICE FORCE AND FIGHTERS OF HASHID SHAABI CHANTING AND CHEERING FOR VICTORY FIGHTERS GREETING LEADER OF BADR ORGANISATION HADI AL-AMIRI (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) PROMINENT HASHID SHAABI LEADER, HADI AL-AMIRI, SAYING: "We are encircling the city but we will not enter it. This is a policy, which we adopted in our operations in all areas. We said that we will enter only if there is a need and a necessity. We entered Al-Dhuluiya when the people of Al-Dhuluiya people said that they could not do it without us and this was the case in Tikrit and Baiji. Our decision is to encircle the city only. We will only go in if the Iraqi forces are in absolute need of support in Falluja. We took the decision of not entering Falluja " IRAQI ARMY HUMVEE IRAQI ARMY HUMVEES
- Embargoed: 8th June 2016 16:46
- Keywords: Falluja Shi'ite militias Hadi al-Amiri Anbar Iraq Islamic State
- Location: OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA, ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ
- City: OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA, ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0014J64Z0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A prominent Shi'ite leader said on Tuesday (May 24) that Iraq's Shi'ite paramilitary coalition will support the Iraqi army in the battle to retake Falluja from Islamic State, but has no plans to enter the city.
"We will not enter Falluja, our decision is to encircle it only,'' said Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, the largest component of the Shi'ite coalition known as Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization.
"We will only go in if the Iraqi forces are in absolute need of support in Falluja,'' al-Amiri added.
Iraqi forces shelled Islamic State targets in Falluja for a second day of an assault to retake the militant stronghold just west of Baghdad, as international concern mounted for the security of civilians.
Local Sunni tribes and a coalition of mostly Shi'ite militias are supporting the army in the battle against Islamic States, whose forces in the city number between 500 and 700, according to a U.S. military estimate.
The participation of Shi'ite militias is stoking concern among Sunni politicians that the battle could result in sectarian violence.
About 100,000 civilians are estimated to be in Falluja which, in January 2014, became the first Iraqi city to be captured by Islamic State, six months before the group declared its caliphate. The population was three times bigger before the war.
Amiri and other Shi'ite politicians stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to launch an offensive on Falluja, blaming the militants that control the city since January 2014 for a series of deadly bombings that hit Baghdad this year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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