Iraqis digging trench around Fallujah to ward off Daesh

Iraqi forces are digging a trench around Fallujah to keep Daesh terrorists at bay and prevent any potential onslaught and systematic looting of the recently-liberated city.

According to the reports, Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, the commander of Fallujah Liberation Operation, said the ditch will have a single opening for local residents to move in and out of the western city, located roughly 69 km west of the capital, Baghdad.

It “will protect the city’s residents, who have lived through many tragedies, as well as security forces deployed there,” Saadi commented.

The trench will be about 11 km long, about 12.5 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep.

Mayor Issa al-Issawi said work on the first phase of the project, extending about 6 km on the north and northwest side of Fallujah, has got underway, and the second phase, which runs 5 km along the south and southeast, will begin soon.

The western edge of Fallujah leads to the Euphrates River, which serves as a natural barrier. On the eastern side lies the heavily-patrolled highway to Baghdad, which will be the sole entrance to Fallujah.

Major General Saad Harbiyah, commander of military operations in western Baghdad, said the trench runs through open desert areas on the northern outskirts of Fallujah, which Daesh militants have used in the past to attack.

SS