Thousands of Iraqis celebrate Fallujah liberation from ISIL

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets across the country to celebrate the liberation of the strategic western city of Fallujah from the grips of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group.

According to the reports, on Friday evening, non-governmental organizations and popular masses organized marches in the capital, Baghdad, southern cities of Dhi Qar and Basra as well as the central province of Babil, after people broke their dawn-to-dusk fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Iraqi Broadcasting Network reported.

They praised security forces as well as fighters from Popular Mobilization units for their victories in Fallujah, located roughly 69 km west of Baghdad.

The participants said the liberation of Fallujah left those claiming that the ISIL bastions could not be retaken utterly stunned, and dealt a blow to certain media outlets that kept a blind eye to realities on the ground and disseminated falsified reports.

Iraqi forces launched a massive military operation to take back Fallujah on May 23. During the offensive, ISIL resorted to hostage taking among the trapped civilians, using them as human shields to slow down the army advances.

On Friday, Iraqi forces managed to raise their national flag on the main government complex in Fallujah as they faced little resistance from the ISIL terrorists, who had lost their defenses there in the course of the weeks-long offensive.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the nation on the liberation of Fallujah, saying there is no place in the country for ISIL terrorists.

SS