Iraqi police say city centre of Fallujah falls fully into hands of al-Qaida-linked group

BAGHDAD – The head of police in Iraq’s Anbar province says the city centre of Fallujah has fallen completely into the hands of fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.

Hadi Razeij, head of the Anbar police force, said police had left the city centre entirely and had positioned themselves on the edge of town.

He said on Arabic language broadcaster al-Arabiya: “The walls of the city are in the hands of the police force, but the people of Fallujah are the prisoners of ISIL.”

Fallujah, along with nearby provincial capital Ramadi, were strongholds of Sunni insurgents during the U.S.-led war. Al-Qaida militants largely took them over earlier this week.

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