Battle begins for city where 100 American troops died

cbsnews.com ^ | May 23, 2016 | Charlie D'Agata

[Berlin_Freeper]

The Iraqi government said the long-awaited battle to recapture the city of Fallujah began in the early hours of Monday. Video published online overnight purportedly shows heavy bombardment of the city before the advance of ground troops.

Prime Minister Haider al Abadi made a televised announcement that the operation had begun, vowing that Iraqi forces would "tear up the black flags" of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Fallujah.

Backed up by U.S. and coalition airstrikes, a combination of Iraqi troops, police and Shiite militias made early progress, pushing ISIS militants back out of the farmland surrounding the city and toward Fallujah itself.

There are an estimated 800-1,000 ISIS fighters in Fallujah, which has been extensively fortified with trenchs and minefields. Coming after them are upwards of 20,000 Iraqi forces, led by 1,500 members of the Counter Terrorism Services, 10,000 regular Army troops (many trained by the U.S.) and 8-10,000 Iraqi national police.

[wbarmy]

The real action started after the contractors were killed and hung off the bridge. US units started moving in along new Hwy 10 and Mahdi units along old Hwy 10. I was right at the conjunction with a prisoner detention unit. Very interesting.

[M Kehoe]

We gave blood and treasure twice for that piece of real estate. Bounce the rubble.

5.56mm