Shelling in Fallujah, a town near Baghdad held by anti-government fighters, killed four people, officials said Thursday, as Barack Obama pressed "political measures" along with security operations to fight militancy.

But with an election looming in April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line and trumpeted assaults on militants, with security forces announcing the killing of more than 50 fighters in recent air strikes amid ongoing efforts to retake areas of another city partly out of government control.

While Fallujah residents and tribal sheikhs have said ISIL has tightened its grip on the city in recent days, other militant groups and anti-government tribes have also been involved in fighting government forces in both cities.

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