Falluja, Al
[key], town, Anbar prov., central Iraq, on the Euphrates. A strategic city
35 mi (56 km) W of Baghdad, Falluja is sited where a highway linking
Baghdad, Damascus (Syria), and Amman (Jordan) crosses the Euphrates. The
surrounding area produces dates, sesame, millet, and corn. The town is noted
for the many mosques found there, and is identified with ancient Misiche,
where Shapur I halted (a.d. 244) the advancing Roman armies of
Gordian III. Located in the so-called Sunni Triangle (the largely Sunni Arab
region of Iraq), the town was a center of insurgent resistance following the
U.S. invasion of Iraq (2003) and was the scene of fierce fighting in 2004.
It was later seized by Islamic State
militants during their 2014 offensive against Iraqi government forces, and
retaken by Iraqi forces in mid-2016.
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