Victories against IS leave Iraq’s Sunni heartland shattered
AMIRIYAH AL-FALLUJAH, Iraq — As Iraqi political and military attention shifts north in the fight against the Islamic State group, the military victories that have put Iraqi forces on Mosul’s doorstep have left behind shattered cities, towns and communities in Iraq’s Sunni heartland.
Anbar has witnessed the most successful military phase of the ground fight against IS to date. But rather than restore government order, services and security, liberation at the hands of Iraqi forces closely backed by the U.S.-led coalition has merely moved many Anbaris from one waiting room into another.
For Ali Athab, his most painful memory of IS rule in Fallujah was watching his daughter’s health deteriorate. Born with a rare neurological disorder, his daughter Zeina had been receiving treatment at a Fallujah hospital that helped control her seizures, but once IS solidified its grip on the city less than an hour’s drive from Baghdad, almost all the doctors fled.
“She was starting to get better, but now she’s stopped speaking,” he said, explaining that the few doctors who stayed behind were only allowed to treat IS fighters.