Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah from three directions on Monday marking a new and perilous urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the jihadist bastion. The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed. Led by the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best trained and most seasoned fighting unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.
