Fallujah infrastructure and social fabric in ruins post-ISIS

Fallujah infrastructure and social fabric in ruins post-ISIS

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Fallujah in the days after its liberation as Iraqi forces destroy a booby-trapped building. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP

By Farman Abdurrahman 

FALLUJAH, Iraq – More than five months after the city of Fallujah was liberated from ISIS, not one of its 350,000 residents has returned home. People are still living in the thousands of tents built in the dusty deserts surrounding the city. 

Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIS. The Iraqi army and the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi regained control of the city in June, but life has not started to normalize in the city. 

Fallujah is of strategic geographical importance due to its being only 60 kilometers away from Baghdad, the capital. It was here that ISIS first imposed its rule early in January 2014, 6 months prior to their invasion of Mosul. Fallujah was the Iraqi city where ISIS first realized its savage rule, executing the principles of its self-declared caliphate. It was the first city where ISIS imposed its so-called Sharia law, including cutting off hands as punishment for what they deemed wrong.

Fallujah was an ISIS stronghold in Iraq, and they fought hard to maintain their grip on the city. This is evident in the volume of destruction in the majority of the city.

Entering the gates of Fallujah, you will see a teaching hospital which ISIS had turned into one of its key headquarters. Before the city fell to ISIS, it was a thriving hospital with a capacity to admit 300 patients in its wards, and was the people’s favorite choice for critical surgeries. Most of the hospital lies in ruins now.

Fallujah was also known as the ‘city of mosques,’ home to 220 mosques with minarets which ISIS took over. 

Militants took up positions in some of these mosques when the Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi mounted an offensive to recapture the city; most of them were destroyed in the fighting. 

Fallujah was still desolate when I visited it. Walking through its streets, I saw nothing standing in the city other than the chilling aftermath of a devastating war. Most of its houses bear the scars of the war. 

Despite its ruthless rule, some of the people of Fallujah gave some support to ISIS. They did so after being oppressed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The repressive rule of ISIS was seemingly more acceptable to them than that of al-Maliki’s soldiers. 

This explains why civilians were the primary victims of the war between ISIS and Iraq. 

Fallujah was under siege for two months before it was finally liberated by the Iraqi forces on June 26, 2016. During the blockade, food deliveries from outside the city were blocked, forcing people to live on water and dates only. Civilians fleeing the violence and hunger were fired at by ISIS. 

The Euphrates River splits the town into two, with its main part situated on the eastern side of the river. ISIS blew up all three main bridges spanning Euphrates, forcing fleeing Iraqis to swim across to reach safety. Some drowned. 

In February 2016, ISIS circulated photographs showing its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi giving out awards to people at the town’s Mursalin mosque, which was later destroyed during the liberation. The mosque has not yet been completely inspected due to fears that there might still be ISIS bombs in it. 

ISIS used peoples’ homes in Fallujah as military bases, just like in other places they have had control over. Their main headquarters, Sharia courts, and their prisons were in Fallujah’s District of Teachers.

There is a neighborhood in Fallujah called al-akrad (Kurds) which is one of the most heavily damaged areas.
 
All this shows how destructive ISIS’ vision for life is. 

Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Fallujah became a flashpoint and a breeding ground for terrorists. But no group incurred more damage on the city than ISIS. 

The street-by-street war to recapture the city led to its destruction, and cost the lives of many of its residents. 

The Hashd al-Shaabi was fighting both ISIS and the town’s Sunni residents, causing outcry among human rights organizations. 

A video released by ISIS shows one of its emirs, Abu Omar Fallujah, who is reportedly one of the perpetrators of the June 2014 Camp Speicher massacre in the Iraqi town of Tikrit. In a later video, the Hashd al-Shaabi appears to burn the beard of a man. The Shiites claimed that this man was Abu Omar Fallujah. But the Sunnis argue that this was an injustice done against them. 

ISIS destroyed Fallujah as well as the social cohesion among its communities, causing problems in its social makeup. Fallujah is a tribal town. People who lost their family members are now seeking revenge.