Iraqi security forces gather on the outskirts of Fallujah as they prepare an operation aimed at retaking the city from Daesh. During the Iraq War, Fallujah was an insurgent stronghold and the site of the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. Last month, Iraqi forces cleared territory along Anbar’s Euphrates River valley after the provincial capital Ramadi was declared fully liberated earlier this year. Iraq’s political crisis has left the government deadlocked as security forces struggle to fight Daesh. Clashes between protesters and Iraqi security forces inside Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone compound — which houses most Iraqi government ministries and foreign embassies — left two people dead after security forces fired tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition in an attempt to disperse the crowds.

Source: thestar May 22, 2016 19:01 UTC