Iraq Iran Air support:[1] Military of ISIL 11,000–14,500 fighters Major insurgent attacks Foreign interventions IS genocide of minorities IS war crimes Timeline The siege of Fallujah was an offensive launched in February 2016 by the Iraqi government against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in al-Karmah and in the city of Fallujah, with the aim of enforcing a siege of the latter.

[27] From 15 to 19 February, the Iraqi Army launched an offensive into the town of al-Karmah, located northeast of Fallujah, killing dozens of ISIL militants.

[44] On 9 April, ten civilians were killed and 25 others were injured after Iraqi Army airstrikes and artillery shelling targeted the al-Fallujah market and Nezal district in the downtown area of the city.

[47] On 26 April, warplanes bombarded a number of areas in al-Resala, central Fallujah, resulting in the death of eight civilians, including three children, and wounding 13 others.

[55] Meanwhile, Anbar Operations Commander Major General Ismail Mahlawi told Anadolu Agency that the Iraqi Army had captured five areas of the city.

Warplanes also destroyed three car bombs and killed their suicide bombers as they were trying to attack Iraqi security forces in the same area near Fallujah.

[58] On 9 May, the Iraqi Air Force bombarded two ISIL buildings, two caches of weapons, and 60 rocket launchers in the area of Albu Shehab and Amiriyah Fallujah.

"[65] According to the UNHCR, 80 families had managed to escape before 24 May, however, the danger was made clear through civilian contacts who said that ISIL death squads "will kill anybody in Fallujah who leaves their house or waves a white flag.

According to Qasm Araji, a member of the defense committee, the advancing forces were continuously gaining ground and "nearing Fallujah's Eastern gate.

"[70] As the siege tightened and shortages intensified, tens of thousands of Iraqis trapped in Fallujah were left without regular access to food and medicine.

Iraqi officials said that negotiations led by the International Red Cross were ongoing in an attempt to get ISIL to allow some aid teams to enter into the city and provide basic assistance.

Hekmat Sulaiman, the spokesperson for the governor of Anbar province, said that the Iraqi Army had tried to deliver food to the civilians, but that ISIL had blocked the efforts.

A senior federal security official confirmed that negotiations were ongoing, but declined to specify whether the talks were happening with ISIL leaders inside the city, or elsewhere.

Houses, schools, sewage pipes, and electric and water lines became increasingly unusable by the residents left in the city, and there were documented reports that women and children were forced to sleep outside in the harsh weather.

Many residents were unable to access the medical care and supplies they needed, an issue which intensified after Fallujah hospital was shelled during the subsequent offensive in late May.

[71] As the Iraqi Army tightened its siege of the city, local reports indicated that ISIL grew bloodier and more desperate, terrorizing and increasing its aggression against Fallujah's residents.

[73][74] On 30 March, a commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces units, Colonel Mahmoud Mardi Jumaili, said ISIL killed 35 people in the central district of Fallujah after accusing them of attempting to escape from the city.

[75] On 14 April, a security source said ISIL militants began a massive offensive in the al-Halabese and al-Bualawan areas of Western Fallujah, abducting at least 100 Iraqi civilians.

It has since become clear that the Shia militia groups (associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces) deliberately targeted families who were known to be Sunni Arabs for the furtherance of their sectarian agenda.