Iraqi PM Urges Fallujah Residents to Expel Al-Qaida
FILE - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is seen speaking in Baghdad.
Iraq's prime minister has urged residents and tribes in the besieged city of Fallujah to "expel" al-Qaida-linked militants in order to preempt a military offensive that officials said could be launched within days.
Nouri al-Maliki's message on state television came as dozens of families were fleeing the city Monday in fear of a major showdown.
Iraqi government troops have surrounded Fallujah, which lies in western Sunni-dominated Anbar province and which was overrun along with most parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, by al-Qaida fighters last week.
Maliki, a Shi'ite whose government has little support in Sunni Fallujah, also said he ordered security forces not to strike residential areas.
Security officials said the prime minister had agreed to hold off an offensive for now to give tribal leaders in Fallujah more time to drive out the Islamist militants on their own.
On Sunday, fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamist fighters killed at least 34 people and government forces launched an air strike on Ramadi.
Tribal fighters aligned with government forces are seen patrolling the streets in the city of Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad Jan. 5, 2014.
Insurgents from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been fending off government forces and allied tribal fighters, including some Sunnis who oppose the militants.
Violence between Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni minority has killed thousands within the last year.
The Sunnis accuse the government of ignoring their needs and marginalizing them politically. Iraqi officials accuse the Sunnis of involvement in terrorism.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States will provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their battle against the pro-al-Qaida militants, but in a reference to Iraq’s government stressed that it is "their fight."
Kerry said there are no plans of sending U.S. ground troops back into Iraq.
Nouri al-Maliki's message on state television came as dozens of families were fleeing the city Monday in fear of a major showdown.
Iraqi government troops have surrounded Fallujah, which lies in western Sunni-dominated Anbar province and which was overrun along with most parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, by al-Qaida fighters last week.
Maliki, a Shi'ite whose government has little support in Sunni Fallujah, also said he ordered security forces not to strike residential areas.
Security officials said the prime minister had agreed to hold off an offensive for now to give tribal leaders in Fallujah more time to drive out the Islamist militants on their own.
On Sunday, fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamist fighters killed at least 34 people and government forces launched an air strike on Ramadi.
Tribal fighters aligned with government forces are seen patrolling the streets in the city of Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad Jan. 5, 2014.Violence between Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni minority has killed thousands within the last year.
The Sunnis accuse the government of ignoring their needs and marginalizing them politically. Iraqi officials accuse the Sunnis of involvement in terrorism.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States will provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their battle against the pro-al-Qaida militants, but in a reference to Iraq’s government stressed that it is "their fight."
Kerry said there are no plans of sending U.S. ground troops back into Iraq.
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