“Burned Lands”: Quds Force plan to takeover Fallujah

Following the US forces’ opposition regarding the participation of Shiite militias in operations aimed at liberating Iraq’s restive Anbar Province and emphasizing on the participation of Sunni tribes in these attacks, the Iranian regime saw all its plots facing serious threats. One of Tehran’s red lines is the participation of Sunni tribes because these forces are viewed as a rival against the Shiite militias it is fully backing, whereas the US plan of training and arming Anbar tribes also crosses Iran’s red line.

The Quds Force introduced a new plot, being the takeover of the Anbar cities of Garma and Fallujah using Shiite militias under the pretext of protecting Baghdad. Considering the fact that Iran’s proxy militias along with the Revolutionary Guards are not able to retake Garma and Fallujah – as we saw in Tikrit when the Iraqi government was forced to ask for US airstrikes and accept Washington’s conditions of pulling back Shiite militias – they have now planned a tactic described as ‘burned lands’. The Iranian regime has now infiltrated its artillery and missile units into Iraq and stationed them around Garma and Fallujah, launching all kinds of barrages on these two cities and surrounding areas to force the residents to evacuate their homes and migrate. In these daily attacks artillery barrages have left scores of people in Fallujah and the vicinity dead and injured. 

Currently Quds Force chief Qassem Suleimani, Hadi al-Ameri and Abu Mahdi Mohandes are in the Fallujah vicinity and intend to launch their attacks in this area.

This has reached a point that Anbar Governor Sahil al-Rawi warned that the city of Fallujah is facing heavy indiscriminate bombings based on the tactic of burned lands in the war against ISIS. The Anbar governor reminded us that using such a tactic will lead a humanitarian tragedy in this city. He said currently Fallujah locals are left facing the ‘hammer’ of indiscriminate shelling by a joint coalition, and the ‘anvil’ of ISIS that is preventing locals from exiting the city.

The status of Fallujah and Garma is not very clear right now, but in any case the people are the main losers as a result of these heavy casualty attacks.

Yesterday the International Center for Justice said Shiite militias are preparing for a criminal genocide in Fallujah, commanded by Qassem Suleimani.

One of the important factors in this regard is the silence we are seeing from US forces in the face of these criminal plots, as if they are in content with the Quds Force’s burned lands operations in Fallujah. US forces even conducted airstrikes yesterday in Fallujah and are looking to provide support fire for Quds Force militants.