Residents Return to Fallujah Despite Tension

Residents of a militant-held city on Baghdad's doorstep began slowly returning on Saturday amid a tense calm.

Most businesses reopened in Fallujah and government security operations in nearby areas were put on hold after heavy overnight rain restricted the use of aircraft and heavy vehicles, a day after police and tribesmen retook militant-held areas in the nearby Anbar provincial capital Ramadi.

Gunmen seized all of Fallujah, just 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Baghdad, and parts of Ramadi last week, the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Both cities lie in Anbar province, a sprawling desert region that borders Syria where U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned for months that jihadists have been able to establish training camps and rear bases.

The United Nations and NGOs have said civilians lack access to essential supplies such as food and fuel because of the crisis, while Washington has piled pressure on Baghdad to focus on political reconciliation, in addition to ongoing military operations.

The main route linking Baghdad to Fallujah was packed with vehicles, an Agence France Presse journalist said, as residents of the former insurgent bastion began making their way back after fleeing days earlier.

Most of the city's businesses had also reopened on Saturday, according to the journalist.

But tribal leaders said a combination of anti-government tribesmen and fighters loyal to the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were deployed on the outskirts of Fallujah.

The Iraqi Red Crescent said it had provided humanitarian assistance to more than 8,000 families across Anbar but that upwards of 13,000 had fled, while the UN special envoy has warned of a dire humanitarian situation.

A senior U.S. official has said the crisis could take weeks to resolve.

Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp.

The violence spread to Fallujah, and militants moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.