After a hard-fought battle, the Iraqi Security Forces finally recaptured the strategically important city of Fallujah, lost to militants of the so-called Islamic State back in early 2014. As ever, a critical role was played by air power, with both Iraqi and coalition aircraft in action. ON JANUARY 4, 2014, the Iraqi Army lost control of the city of Fallujah to forces of the so-called Islamic State (IS) after a five-day battle. Following the recapture of Ramadi in February 2016, Iraqi forces began to surround most of the cities to the west of Fallujah. On February 2 this year, the Iraqi Army completely besieged Fallujah, leaving an estimated tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the city. While the Iraqi Army launched an offensive in Al-Karmah, north-east of Fallujah, many local Sunni tribesmen revolted against IS, burning the insurgents' Al-Hisbah headquarters, but the revolt began to die down once IS militants began mass arrests. Thirty IS fighters were killed in the Karama sub-district of eastern Fallujah on February 24 by a coalition air strike.
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