A US military commander in Baghdad has openly contradicted the Iraqi army’s claim last week that it had liberated the key city of Falluja and driven out IS militants from most of the city. Colonel Christopher Garver said Iraqi forces had cleared only a third of the city and the rest remains contested. Iraqi commanders insist that 80% of Falluja is under their control. Iraq’s prime minister announced Falluja’s “liberation” on Friday, after the city council building was retaken. Haider al-Abadi claimed that remaining pockets of IS fighters would be “cleaned out within hours”. But clashes between government forces and IS militants continue and the militants have dug in in residential neighbourhoods in the north of the city. Iraqi forces moved into the centre of the city on Friday, raising the national flag from the […]