Entire population of Fallujah displaced
Iraqi and coalition air-strikes are carrying out air-strikes on convoys of ISIS vehicles fleeing Fallujah, as the city has finally fallen after a five-week siege. Hundreds of vehicles have reportedly been destroyed. (Rudaw, June 30) Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers were killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the battle Fallujah, which was taken by ISIS almost exactly two years ago. (MEE, July 1) Iraqi forces are said to be "screening" some 20,000 people—mostly young men and boys—detained while trying to flee the city. (MEE, June 25) Aid workers say the displacement of almost the entire city—between 60,000 and over 80,000 people depending on who is counting—has been disorganised, at best. "The entire humanitarian community has failed Iraq—from donors, to governments, to the implementing agencies on the ground," Karl Schembri of the Norwegian Refugee Council told IRIN news service. "Fallujah has exposed all of our shortcomings with massive consequences for the tens of thousands of civilians displaced." He added: "When Mosul happens, God help us." (IRIN, June 28)
Massive suicide attack in Baghdad
The ongoing terror campaign in Baghdad continues to draw but perfunctory media coverage, although the sheer magnitude of this one did draw some attention. A suicide truck bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in Baghdad as families prepared for Eid al-Fitr celebrations, killing more than 100 in what was the deadliest single attack in Iraq in years. At least 147 were wounded. ISIS claimed responsibility. (CNN)
Death toll rises in Baghdad blast
The death toll in the blast in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Karada has now risen to 250, making it the single biggest terror attack in Iraq since the US invasion of 2003. Interior minister Mohammed al-Ghabban offered to resign. (Al Jazeera)