ISIS Using Civilians as Human Shields in Fallujah
Civilians flee their homes to head to safer areas due to clashes
between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants in the town of Hit in
Anbar province, Iraq
As the Iraqi army and the federal police
force are advancing towards the center of Fallujah in the west of
Baghdad, the ISIS militants are using civilians as human shields, the
local leaders warned.
As the Iraqi army and the federal police
force are advancing towards the center of Fallujah in the west of
Baghdad, the ISIS militants are using civilians as human shields, the
local leaders warned.
After the launch of the Fallujah
operation on Monday, the Iraqi forces liberated dozens of areas on the
outskirt of the city, and they are now advancing faster towards the
central Fallujah.
Commander of the Iraqi Federal Police,
Sahkir Jawdat said on Tuesday that his men are pushing deeper into the
city through three directions and they have killed at least 10 IS
terrorists today alone, and detonated four car bombs.
The Iraqi forces today liberated Abu Oda
and al-Abadi villages near Fallujah and they planted the Iraqi flag in
Garma district of eastern Fallujah, according to Jawdat.
However, local leaders and humanitarian
organizations are now deeply concerned over thousands of civilians
remaining in the city, saying that IS is using the residents as human
shield to ward off the government offensives.
Nasr Muflahi, Iraq country director in
the Norvegian Refugee Council, has warned that “IS has been moving
families into the center of the city to use them as shields, and to stop
the bombardment from the Iraqi and coalition forces, but the
bombardment has gone ahead.”
Prior to the offensives, the Iraqi air
force dropped leaflets over Fallujah to urge civilians to leave the city
or raise white flags to mark their locations.
Muflahi said that only about 70 families
had been able to leave in the last 48 hours, and that IS was blocking
others from exiting. He added that if the fight worsens, as many as
50,000 people could eventually attempt to flee.
Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian
coordinator in Iraq, said that she was “deeply concerned” about the fate
of the civilians in Fallujah, who could fall victims to “airstrikes,
artillery, and crossfire”.
“We are deeply worried by the reports
from people inside Fallujah that Daesh [IS] is rounding up families and
using them as human shields,” she added.
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