US-led coalition air and artillery strikes have killed 70 Islamic State fighters in Fallujah, including the jihadists' leader in the Iraqi city, a military spokesman said Friday. Baghdad-based Colonel Steve Warren said that over the last four days, 20 strikes in the besieged city had destroyed IS fighting positions and gun emplacements. "We've killed more than 70 enemy fighters, including Maher Al-Bilawi, who is the commander of ISIL forces in Fallujah," Warren said, using an acronym for the IS group.
"This, of course, won't completely cause the enemy to stop fighting, but it's a blow. And it creates confusion and it causes the second-in-command to have to move up. It causes other leadership to have to move around," he added. Iraqi forces launched an operation to recapture Fallujah, an IS stronghold located just 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Baghdad, at the start of this week. Between 500 and 1,000 IS fighters hold Fallujah, and about 50,000 civilians are trapped inside the city, with the jihadists trying to kill those who attempt to flee. US planes have dropped leaflets telling locals to avoid IS areas, Warren said. "Those leaflets directed those who cannot leave to put white sheets on their roofs to mark their locations.