As Iraqi forces reclaim Fallujah, we give you a quick rundown of what this means for Islamic State (IS), for those fighting against them and for those caught in the middle.

First, some background:

In January 2014, IS militants seized the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which is just 50 kilometres west of Baghdad

In January 2014, IS militants seized the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which is just 50 kilometres west of Baghdad Since then, IS militants gained control of other major cities including Mosul in northern Iraq and parts of Syria

Since then, IS militants gained control of other major cities including Mosul in northern Iraq and parts of Syria US forces waged some of the biggest battles against Al Qaeda in Fallujah between 2003 and 2011

US forces waged some of the biggest battles against Al Qaeda in Fallujah between 2003 and 2011 Now, Iraqi forces, with the help of police, counterterrorism forces and local tribal fighters claim to have reclaimed the city.

Why is reclaiming Fallujah so important?

Fallujah was the first major Iraqi city seized by the terror group. That makes recapturing the city a "symbolic blow", according to University of Queensland School of Political Science and International Studies associate professor Doctor Marianne Hanson.

It was also an important base for the IS group to launch deadly attacks on the capital.

"Keep in mind Fallujah is very close to Baghdad," Dr Hanson said.

"In the past couple of years that ISIL has been occupying Fallujah, it has been able to launch attacks to Baghdad very easily and we have seen a number of suicide bombings and attacks in Bagdad."

How do you actually reclaim a city?

Iraq Prime Minister Hairder al-Abadi went on state television to announce his forces were in control of the city except for a few small pockets of jihadists.

Australian National University senior fellow in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre Doctor John Blaxland said IS militants would have planned extensive traps and posts throughout the city.

"Urban warfare is the most taxing form of warfare," he said. "It is where the surveillance and high-tech sensors of a modern Western force are least effective and where [Islamic State] can best drag out the offensive."

IS militants had done their homework

Dr Blaxland said the IS group would have studied, learnt and adapted to the tactics and techniques used by United States forces fighting insurgents in Fallujah a decade ago.

This meant an "innovative approach" would have been needed to overcome the group and precision stand-off weapons would have played a major role, but not without consequence.

The IS group had shown itself to be "more than happy to use the local population as human shields".

"So, I anticipate significant numbers of casualties arising," Dr Blaxland said.

"They had plenty of time to prepare improvised explosive devices or IEDs, sniper positions and suicide vehicle bombs by the dozen."

What has life been like for Fallujah's residents?

The major offensive to drive IS members out of Fallujah started last month.

Since then tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes.

Residents of the city centre had been trapped in dire conditions for days but recent advances have allowed large numbers to escape.

There are displacement camps setup south of the city but aid organisations say the influx means supplies are drying up fast.

A Fallujah resident who contacted the AFP news agency said many people had been keen to see security forces reclaim the city, but feared the fallout.

He said IS members had been seen rounding up young men before taking them to an unknown location.

Before it was reclaimed, aid group Norwegian Refugee Council (NARC) contacted a 40-year-old woman who painted a bleak picture of life inside Fallujah.

"There is no medicine for ordinary people. The doctor is affiliated with IS and he refuses to help ordinary people," the aid group quoted her as saying. "Instead of providing adequate treatment, doctors often simply amputate a patients arms or legs if they are in pain. There are no anaesthetics left."

What about the people who fled? Will they return?

Dr Hanson said the city's population saw a significant drop in 2003 as tens of thousands of the 300,000 living in Fallujah fled following the US invasion of Iraq. Now, the latest fighting by Iraqi forces to reclaim Fallujah has caused an estimated 60,000 people to be displaced.

"What has not already been destroyed ... is likely to undergo further damage making the place largely unliveable," she said, before the offensive was complete. "Access to things like water and electricity are severely restricted. It may well be that the retaliating [IS] forces will seek to damage the city even further ... not to mention the bombardment of the Iraqi army. "It is going to [create] massive damage to the city to infrastructure and quite possibly the loss of a great number of civilian lives, but there does not seem to be an alternative way."

The matter gets even more complicated by the relationship Fallujah's residents have with the Iraqi Government.

"Their captors are essentially starving them and killing them and their would-be rescuers are likely to destroy their city even further ... and even when the town is re-taken there are questions about how the government forces will treat the people that they find in Fallujah itself," she said.

"How do you differentiate families who have no affiliation [to IS] who have been the victims in all of this?"

There's a long road ahead. And it heads north

Before the city was reclaimed, Dr Blaxland predicted there would be more work to be done.

"There is much left to capture back from [IS] including in Mosul and the remainder of the northwest of Iraq," he said.

"The battle of Fallujah is not the end of the story.

"It is a waypoint in an unfolding tragedy that appears to have a long way to go yet."

The future of the region

Dr Hanson said it was time to create a democracy which respected all groups in Iraq including Shia and Sunni Muslims and ethnic Kurds.

"We need to go [to] the bigger picture here: how to you create a state ... where the different groupings are able to co-exist peacefully? That really has been the challenge unfortunately," she said.