Fallujah fight is only a start for Iraq’s army

The Iraqis have retaken most of the city from ISIL. But their next task will be harder

Iraqi security forces advance their positions during the fight against Islamic State militants in Fallujah. Anmar Khalil / AP

Fallujah has returned home to Iraq. Those were the words of Iraq’s prime minister Haider Al Abadi as he addressed Iraqis after government troops finally retook most of the city from ISIL.

Parts of the city have still not been cleared, but the fact the Iraqi forces were able to take several neighbourhoods in quick succession with little resistance suggests that ISIL decided to melt away rather than put up a prolonged fight.

That could mean that the next serious battle that the Iraqis face – for Mosul – could be long and bloody. It was in Mosul, after all, that ISIL’s leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared the so-called “caliphate”. The city therefore has great symbolic value for the militant group and it is unlikely they will give it up easily. Parts of Fallujah have been pockmarked with tunnels by ISIL, who perhaps intended to put up a stronger fight. It is a virtual certainty they will do so in Mosul. In any case, Mr Al Abadi appears undeterred: “Mosul is the next battle,” he tweeted.

It is about time. Fallujah was overrun by ISIL in 2014, before the group even declared its caliphate. In the two years since, Iraqis have suffered greatly under ISIL, and particularly in the past few days as the assault against the city began. There are many thousands in camps for displaced people on the outskirts of the city. While many fled ISIL, many others were seeking to escape from the Shia militias, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, who helped the Iraqi army retake Fallujah and who have been accused of attacks against Sunni Iraqis (who are the majority in Fallujah).

All of which demonstrates the long task ahead for Iraq and its allies. The fight against ISIL is, of course, far from won, either in Syria or in Iraq. The battle for Mosul will be difficult. But inter­twined with that is a broader battle for the unity of the armed forces.

Suspicions about the Shia paramilitary group and its links with Iran continue, and to his credit Mr Al Abadi has spoken out against crimes by the group against Sunni civilians, admitting there were “mistakes” and pledging not to protect any of those found to have committed human rights violations. But in the months ahead, as the Iraqi army and its allies retake the rest of Fallujah and Mosul, it will be up to Iraqi’s politicians to remake the army and demonstrate it can be a military institution for all Iraqis, not for some sects alone.