Operation Fallujah: Iraq 'must probe abuses by pro-government forces'

The Iraqi government must deliver on its pledge to investigate reports of abuses committed by its forces against civilians during the operation to retake Fallujah, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Iraqi forces on 22-23 May launched a vast offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Sunni city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad is one of the extremist organisation's most emblematic bastions and one of only two major urban hubs it still controls in Iraq.

"The Iraqi government needs to control and hold accountable its own forces if it hopes to claim the moral upper hand in its fight against (IS)," said Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director.

"It's high time for Iraqi authorities to unravel the web of culpability underlying the government forces' repeated outrages against civilians," a HRW statement quoted him as saying.

The operation to retake Fallujah has involved tens of thousands of government fighters, including from the police, army, counter-terrorism service and from the Popular Mobilisation forces, a paramilitary umbrella that is dominated by Shia militias.

HRW said it had conducted interviews corroborating allegations that members of the federal police and the Popular Mobilisation executed at least 17 people fleeing the fighting in Sijr, northeast of Fallujah.

The rights watchdog also listed reports of civilians being stabbed to death and others dying after being dragged behind cars in the Saqlawiya area, northwest of Fallujah.

HRW also expressed concern over reports that IS was preventing civilians from fleeing areas it still controls by shooting and executing them.

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Saqlawiya massacre

In a statement on Thursday, the Iraqi Powers Alliance - the parliament's largest Sunni bloc - blamed the Popular Mobilisation forces for a "massacre" in the Anbar town of Saqlawiya (10 kilometres north of Fallujah), which reportedly left dozens of people dead while more than 600 are missing.

Some factions, the statement continued, have tried to "ruin the victories achieved by Iraqi forces" by taking advantage of Operation Fallujah for "sectarian retaliation" purposes.

The parliamentary alliance also called for the withdrawal of Popular Mobilisation forces from the Anbar province, adding that the Iraqi forces and tribes are able to liberate Fallujah without their help.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi responded to mounting concern over reports of abuses earlier this week by promising to investigate and prosecute all such cases.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shia cleric in Iraq, has issued guidelines intended as a code of conduct for forces fighting IS and aimed at curbing abuses.

Agencies contributed to this report.