The Wall Street Journal reports: Islamic State reasserted its authority over the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Sunday following clashes with local Sunni tribesman that showed the first signs of serious resistance to the extremist group’s two-year rule over the city.

The militants detained up to 180 men after the fighting ended late on Saturday, local officials said, leading to fears among the city’s exiled leadership that the insurgency will severely punish anyone suspected of participating in the brief show of defiance.

“Daesh is going through a shaky situation and are full of worries because of the revolution against it,” said Col. Mahmood Al Jumaili, the commander of the local force of the Popular Mobilization Forces, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “This might lead Daesh to commit a new crime of executing the detained people.“

Officials from the Sunni-majority city have pleaded for military intervention from the Shiite dominated central government.

“We are aware of what will happen if the government and the security forces won’t support us,” said Majeed al-Juraisi, a tribal leader from Fallujah. “We will be slaughtered silently.”

Lightly armed local tribesmen on Friday and Saturday fought the militants in three neighborhoods in the city that had long been a center of Sunni extremist insurgency in Iraq.

The revolt signaled that residents of the city have become frustrated with Islamic State governance, the city’s exiled mayor Saadoun al-Shaalan said.

“Tribal fighters need the support of the security forces,“ said Mr. Shaalan, who is based in Baghdad but in frequent contact with tribal leaders. [Continue reading…]