Iraqi forces storm into Fallujah in an attempt to overthrow Daesh

In January 2014, Fallujah became the first Iraqi city to fall under the control of the militants, six months before they declared a caliphate over territory seized in Iraq and Syria.

A spokesman for Iraq’s elite counter-terrorisn service said troops entered the city from three directions.

 “Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks, said lieutenant general Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander in charge of the operation.

“Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 1am, started moving into Fallujah from three directions,” he said.

“There is resistance from Daesh,” he added.

The Iraqi army, supported by Iranian-backed Shia militia, began the operation to recapture Fallujah on 23 May, first by tightening its siege around the city, 50km west of Baghdad, and has now begun a direct assault.

Only a few hundred families managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the militants could try to use them as human shields.