US backs Iraq in Fallujah battle but sees no return of its ground troops
Concerned after al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist fighters take control of Fallujah, the US offers assistance but stops short of promising to return its marines to Iraq
Washington said on Sunday it would help Baghdad in its battle against al-Qaeda but that there would be no return of US troops, as sporadic clashes occurred near militant-held Iraqi cities.
The takeover of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi is the first time that militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the bloody insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.
Fallujah is in the hands of fighters of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a senior security official said on Saturday, putting militants back in control of the city where US forces repeatedly battled insurgents.
Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States would provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their battle against the militants but that it was “their fight”.
There were sporadic clashes on Sunday morning both on the outskirts of Fallujah and inside Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, journalists reported.
“We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight.”
It was not immediately clear which of the four parties to the fighting – the regular security forces, loyalist tribes, ISIL and forces of the anti-government “Military Council of the Tribes” – were involved.