Iraq: Iraqi troops retake key town of Karma from ISIS in Falluja offensive
Iraqi security forces and supporting militias have retaken the key town of Karma from ISIS, the government’s first significant victory in its push to reclaim Falluja, a spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said Thursday.
The recapture of Karma, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Falluja, brings most of the territory east of Falluja under government control.
Iraqi government troops, backed by Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units and an air campaign by the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition, launched an offensive Monday to retake Falluja, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.
It remains, along with Mosul, one of the last two Iraqi cities under the Sunni terror group’s control.