Fallujah.

This is coolbert:

Yet once again from the latest edition of the DEBKAfile newsletter:

The game is a-foot. The Iraqi city of Fallujah once again the scene of urban combat! Militia of various factions taking a very active role!

1. "Iraqi troops launch attack to recapture Fallujah from ISIS"

23 May.

"Thirty-five thousand Iraqi troops launched an attack on Sunday to recapture Fallujah, the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, which has been held by ISIS since 2014 . . . Washington and the American commanders in Iraq opposed the attack because they believe that the Iraqi army is not capable of breaking into the city and liberating it within a short period of time. They also believe that the military operation and the unstable political situation in Baghdad will have a detrimental effect on preparations for an attack on Mosul, the ISIS capital in Iraq."

2. "Iran's Soleimani leads US-backed attack on Fallujah"

24 May.

"Even though Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that 35,000 Iraqi troops have launched an attack to liberate Fallujah from ISIS, most of those forces are not participating in the attack on the city, Pro-Iranian militias under the command of Iran's Gen. Qassem Soleimani are actually spearheading the assault . . . The US air force is helping Soleimani's attempt to capture Fallujah, and our military sources report that by assisting the offensive, which the Obama administration opposed for a long time, the Americans have actually given up on attacking Mosul, the ISIS capital in Iraq, anytime soon."

35,000 Iraqi troops as described better understood as predominantly Shia militia?

ALL THIS IS GOING TO BECOME A PROTRACTED BATTLE, THE PROVERBIAL "SENSELESS CARVE-UP" WITHOUT AMELIORATION?

Urban warfare requires troops the like of which have received more than a bare modicum of training, equipment, etc. These militia have NONE of this?

coolbert.