Residents of a militant-held city on Baghdad's doorstep have begun returning amid a tense calm as the UN Security Council backs Iraq's efforts against al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Most businesses reopened in Fallujah on Saturday and government security operations in nearby areas were put on hold after heavy overnight rain restricted aircraft and heavy vehicles.
The previous day, police and tribesmen retook militant-held areas in the nearby Anbar provincial capital Ramadi.
Gunmen seized all of Fallujah, just 60 kilometres 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 US-led invasion.
Both cities lie in Anbar province, a sprawling desert region bordering Syria where US and Iraqi officials have warned for months that jihadists have been able to establish training camps and rear bases.
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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 pressured Baghdad to focus on political reconciliation, in addition to ongoing military operations.
The main route linking Baghdad to Fallujah was packed with vehicles, an AFP journalist said, as residents of the former insurgent bastion began making their way back after fleeing days earlier.
Most of the city's businesses also reopened on Saturday, according to the journalist.
But tribal leaders said a combination of anti-government tribesmen and fighters loyal to the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were deployed on the outskirts of Fallujah.
A policeman stationed in Anbar, meanwhile, said operations against militants between the two cities had been temporarily put on hold because of rain.
A day earlier, tribesmen and police retook the Malaab and Fursan areas of Ramadi from al-Qaeda-linked militants, tribal military commander Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha told AFP.
"We fought ISIL alongside our sons from the local police forces and returned them to their stations," Abu Risha said.
"They only control 10 per cent of Ramadi territory," he said of ISIL.
ISIL has been active in the Anbar fighting, but so have anti-government tribes.
At the same time, security forces have recruited their own tribal allies in the fighting that has raged in Anbar for more than 10 days.
Two civilians were killed and four others wounded in violence in the city, according to a doctor, while eight militants also suffered injuries.
In Fallujah, which remained in the control of gunmen, prayer leader Sheikh Abdulhamid Jadua called for provincial sheikhs to intervene to resolve the crisis in the city, but warned the government "should not use the army for internal fighting in the cities".
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, gave strong backing to an Iraqi government campaign to retake the two cities, amid mounting concern over the battle for Anbar.
