6/25/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Iraqi Special Forces advanced into the al-Jolan district of Fallujah, as smoke from airstrikes and artillery rose in the background.
Iraqi Security Forces began their push on the ISIS held city of Fallujah on May 23, and have taken back much of the city. As of Wednesday, June 25, Iraqi Security forces had taken back much of the southern and central districts of the city, but ISIS remains in the north western district of the city, known as al-Jolan. The offensive has sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing into the scorching deserts of Anbar province seeking shelter. The Iraqi government has been strict about not allowing many of them to travel the relatively short distance to Baghdad, and has detained many of the men considered to be of "military age," in some cases, as young as 12 years old. Many of the men have been brought to "screening centers" run by the government where families fear their loved ones are being tortured or worse.
6/25/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Iraqi Army tanks pushed forward during the final assault on the al-Jolan district of Fallujah, Saturday, as Iraqi Forces fought the last ISIS elements in the city.
6/27/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
The main road that runs through downtown Fallujah. Much of the area is badly damaged from artillery and heavy fighting.
6/18/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
A member of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces who was wounded in the calf by a bullet that came from the direction of the front lines was helped into an armored humvee by comrades. It was unclear if the bullet was a stray round, or was fired by a distant sniper.
6/27/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Young members of a Pro-Iraqi government fighting group, one of them carrying an Iraqi flag, stepped on and posed with the dead body of an ISIS fighter that had previously been beheaded and dragged through the streets of Fallujah, and left to bake in the sun, Monday.
6/25/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
A member of the Iraqi Special Forces maintained watch from a rooftop position as Iraqi Forces began to push into the al-Jolan district of Fallujah, Saturday.
6/19/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
An Iraqi Federal Policeman displayed shrapnel scars on his back from a previous war injury, Sunday, near his units position in the al-Nazal district of Fallujah, near the frontline with ISIS fighters.
6/19/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Members of the Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade, part of the Ministry of Interior, rested between operations in the al-Nazal district of Fallujah, Sunday.
6/24/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, known as the CTF or counter terrorism forces, explored an underground bunker that was built in a large house used by ISIS, in Fallujah, Friday.
6/25/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
An Iraqi Special Forces sniper fired on a suspected ISIS position from a rooftop on the frontlines as his unit pushed deeper into the al-Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah, Saturday.
6/24/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Members of Iraq's Elite Counter Terrorism Forces stepped over ball bearings that coated the floor of an ISIS munitions factory. The bearings, along with screws and other metal were used as shrapnel in improvised weapons systems built in the makeshift weapons workshop, near the al-Jolan district of Fallujah, Saturday.
6/24/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Large diameter standardized mortars could be seen in an ISIS arms workshop that was captured by advancing Iraqi Special Operations Forces, near the al-Jolan district of Fallujah, Friday.
6/29/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Sunlight filtered through the bars on a cell door in a former ISIS prison in the al-Mualamin district of central Fallujah. The complex, which was spread over three large residential buildings, was among other things, a center for torture, and at least one officer from the Interior Ministry's Emergency Reaction Brigade speculated that the nicer conditions of some of the cells might have indicated that women, and possibly Yazidis were kept there (unconfirmed).
6/19/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
Members of the Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade toured through a former ISIS prison in Fallujah's al-Nazal district. The building held several makeshift cells, as well as a courtroom.
6/29/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
A hook connected to a winch, used for hoisting prisoners during torture, hung from the ceiling in the stairway of a home that had been used by ISIS as a prison complex, in the al-Mualamin district of central Fallujah Wednesday. The complex, which was spread over three large residential buildings, was among other things, a center for torture, and at least one officer from the Interior Ministry's Emergency Reaction Brigade speculated that the nicer conditions of some of the cells might have indicated that women, and possibly Yazidis were kept there (unconfirmed).
6/29/2016 Fallujah, Iraq
The bodies of unknown prisoners, executed by ISIS, were found near the prison complex, in a school, in the al-Mualamin district of Fallujah, in the days following the battle. With the city still not completely cleared, they have not been buried, and bake under the midday sun.
6/28/2016 Habbaniyeh, Iraq
Internally displaced Sunni’s registered for aid at a dusty IDP camp in Habbaniyeh. The battle for Fallujah has displaced hundreds of thousands, with no clear indicators as to when people will be able to return home to the heavily mined city.
6/28/2016 Habbaniyeh, Iraq
Internally displaced Sunni’s milled about outside their tents in a dusty IDP camp in Habbaniyeh. The battle for Fallujah has displaced hundreds of thousands, with no clear indicators as to when people will be able to return home to the heavily mined city.