BAGHDAD (Sputnik) — Iraqi soldiers on Saturday liberated the town of Saklaviya near the strategically important city of Fallujah, which has been occupied by the militants from the Daesh jihadist group, the Iraqi military command said in a statement issued on Saturday.
According to the statement, the liberated Saklaviya used to be the key Daesh defense point near Fallujah. The Iraqi military managed to take control over the most of the town in late May, but the central part of the town was occupied by jihadists until Saturday.
The Iraqi Army and Shiite militias, backed by US airstrikes, launched the offensive to retake Fallujah on May 22. Earlier in the day, Iraqi army’s information bureau said that the national forces had entered Fallujah, one of the Daesh strongholds in Iraq, and established control over one of the city's districts.
Fallujah, located some 42 miles west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, is one of the largest cities in the Anbar province. The Daesh, outlawed in many countries including Russia, has been in control of the city since 2014.
