BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi military said Sunday that it is preparing to storm Islamic State-held Fallujah, the city that was the scene of the bloodiest fighting for U.S. Marines during the Iraq War.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the operation on television Sunday night. He said Iraqi forces are "approaching a moment of great victory" against the Islamic State militant group.
The military statement gave no timeline for the operation but said counterterrorism forces, police, tribal fighters and popular mobilization units -- which include an array of Shiite militias -- will be involved. U.S.-supplied F-16s had already begun bombing targets in the city, the statement said. Civilians were urged to stay away from the Islamic State headquarters.
Few expect an easy fight. Since capturing Fallujah more than two years ago, Islamic State militants have dug in and built defenses in the city, the first in the country to fall to the extremist group.
Fallujah has long been considered a hotbed of rebellion and extremism, and even Saddam Hussein struggled to control its tribes. U.S. Marines fought Sunni insurgents during two battles for the city in 2004, the second of which marked the heaviest urban combat for U.S. troops since Vietnam, claiming the lives of nearly 100 service members.
It's not an order of battle that correlates to U.S. military policy, which had focused on an offensive targeting Mosul, the Islamic State-held city farther north. President Barack Obama has said he expects the recapture of Mosul to be close to complete by the end of the year. But a drawn-out battle for Fallujah could delay the build-up to that offensive.
There has, however, been a growing push within the Iraqi military to recapture Fallujah first. Some of the pressure comes from Shiite militia forces besieging the city, which lies 40 miles west of Baghdad. The presence of those Shiite militia fighters, who view much of the Sunni population as sympathetic to the Islamic State militants, has raised fears of sectarian reprisal killings during any operation, though military commanders said militias would stay at the city's outskirts.
"Your sons, the heroic fighters in the armed forces, are preparing to achieve a new victory," Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for al-Abadi, said in a statement Sunday. "Liberating the city of Fallujah will be a victory for all Iraqis and will pave the way for the return of stability and normalcy to the province of Anbar."
In a speech on Friday, al-Abadi had mentioned a forthcoming offensive for Fallujah and the remaining militant-held areas of Anbar province -- and "then Mosul." On Sunday, al-Abadi held a meeting with lawmakers and provincial officials to inform them of military plans and efforts to protect civilians.
A recent wave of bombings in Baghdad has added weight to the calls for those arguing that a Fallujah operation is more pressing than Mosul, with a militant hub so close to the capital putting civilians at risk. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have already scored a string of victories against Islamic State fighters in the province, most recently taking the desert smuggling town of Rutba, with commanders arguing they should build on successes there.
Sunni leaders from the province have also lobbied for an offensive, saying the continued siege of the city by military and militia forces is causing a humanitarian crisis as up to 60,000 residents remain trapped without access to food and medical supplies.
"We call on all citizens who are still inside Fallujah to prepare to get out," the military statement said, adding that secure routes would be organized later. Citizens who cannot should "raise a white flag" on their homes, it said.
However, Jumaa al-Jumaili, a commander with local Sunni tribal forces, said the Islamic State was not allowing anyone to leave the city in order to use residents as human shields.
"They desperately want to keep Fallujah because of its symbolic importance and location close to Baghdad," he said. "But it's almost besieged from all sides."
Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saedi, who will lead the operation for Iraq's counterterrorism forces, said the army, police and Shiite militias will fight only on the outskirts of the city while his forces will "storm the center." The operation will be "very, very soon," he added, refusing to give a timeline. He said that the U.S.-led coalition will give air support and that the battle will be "difficult but not impossible."
"We do think they can do it," said Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S. military, confirming that the coalition will provide air support.
The Iraqi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, also said the operation will begin "soon." He described Fallujah as the "head of the snake" for the Islamic State.
Police forces have arrived in recent days, with about 20,000 federal policemen with armored vehicles and artillery on the outskirts of Fallujah, said Lt. Gen. Raeed Shakir Jawdat, commander of the federal police.
Shiite militias have also announced a build-up around the city in recent days. Saraya al-Jihad said it had sent units with rockets. Asaib ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization, two of Iraq's most powerful militias, had called on civilians to leave.
Late Saturday, an Islamic State spokesman urged sympathizers in Europe and the U.S. to launch attacks on civilians there if they are unable to travel to the group's self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
In a 31-minute audio message released by the Islamic State media arm al-Furqan, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani told his followers, "The tiniest action you do in the heart of their land is dearer to us than the biggest action by us ... there are no innocents in the heart of the lands of the crusaders."
He encouraged lone wolf attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start early next month, "to win the great award of martyrdom."
Information for this article was contributed by Maamoun Youssef of The Associated Press.
A Section on 05/23/2016