Fallujah falls fully into hands of al-Qaeda group
The city center of Iraq’s Fallujah has fallen completely into the hands of the al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.
A source with the Anbar province police force say police have left the city center entirely and positioned themselves on the edge of town on Saturday.
Fallujah, along with nearby provincial capital Ramadi, was a stronghold of Sunni insurgents during the US-led war. Al-Qaeda militants largely took both cities over last week and have been fending off incursions by government forces there since.
The US State Department has expressed its concern in a statement, saying it would continue to work with Iraqi authorities and tribes allied against the al-Qaeda-linked group "to defeat the common enemy."
