ISIS shooting civilians trying to flee Falluja, NGO says(CNN)ISIS is targeting civilians attempting to leave the militant-held city of Falluja, as Iraqi forces and militia attempt to wrest back control of the city, a European non-profit operating in Iraq says.
As many as 50,000 residents remain
trapped in the center of Falluja as
Iraqi security forces close in, the
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told
CNN Monday. Many of those who try to
escape the clutches of ISIS are
being targeted and shot by
militants, it said.
"Our biggest fears are now
tragically confirmed with civilians
being directly targeted while trying
to flee to safety," NRC Country
Director in Iraq Nasr Muflahi said.
"This is the worst that we feared
would happen to innocent men, women
and children who have had to leave
everything behind in order to save
their lives."
Falluja, which lies 65 km (40 miles)
from the capital Baghdad, has been
held by the militant group since
2014, and is the subject of a
concerted push to retake
ISIS-controlled territory across
Iraq and Syria.
Almost 3,000 families have
safely escaped the city since
late May, the NRC said. Most are
being housed in displacement
camps, and the NRC has warned of
water shortages should the tens
of thousands remaining in
Falluja manage to escape.
Struggle to escape
Many of those now in
displacement camps outside
Baghdad say they barely made it
out of the villages and towns
surrounding the besieged city.
One man CNN
spoke to
said ISIS
fighters
came to his
home and
told him he
needed to go
to the
center of
Falluja to
serve as a
human shield
for the
terror
group.
"It was an
order,"
Taleb
Farhan, a
resident of
Karma on the
outskirts of
Falluja,
said. "If
you refused
they'd shoot
you on the
spot."
One family
hid in their
home, but
left the
door ajar in
an attempt
to fool the
militants.
"When ISIS
came the
thought the
house was
empty,"
Thamir Ali,
also from
the town of
Karma, says.
"Other
families
didn't do
that. ISIS
took them
away or
killed them
in their
homes."
Some who
made it out
told CNN
that four
families --
32 people in
total -- hid
in the
marshes for
four days,
drinking
dirty,
brackish
water and
eating old
dates before
they were
finally able
to escape.
They ended
up in a
dusty,
displaced
persons camp
in Abu
Ghraib
outside of
Baghdad,
where there
is very
little in
the way of
food and
other
supplies.
They hope
that when
ISIS is
defeated,
they will
have homes
for them to
return to.
CNN
witnessed
extensive
damage to
homes and
other
buildings --
very few
structures
remain
standing
near
Falluja,
after the
area has
been pounded
by coalition
and Iraqi
air force
strikes.
Ground gained
Iraqi
security
forces, with
the support
of other
militia,
stormed the
first
neighborhood
in southern
Falluja at
the weekend
after
recapturing
the district
of al
Nuaimiya --
5 kilometers
(3.1 miles)
from central
Falluja.
Separately,
Iraqi
security
forces
recaptured
the key
small town
of
Saqlawiya,
10
kilometers
(6.2 miles)
northwest of
Falluja, on
Saturday.
Troops there
"raised the
national
flag over
the town's
main
buildings,"
Iraq's Joint
Operation
Command
said.
The Iraqi
military
swept
through the
streets
conducting
searches for
"hundreds of
IEDs" that
ISIS planted
throughout
Saqlawiya,
military
officials
said.
Coalition
warplanes
carried out
an airstrike
on ISIS
militants as
they were
trying to
escape on a
raft on the
Euphrates
River, south
of the city,
killing
everyone
aboard raft,
the
officials
said.
The takeover
of Saqlawiya
comes a day
after
coalition
warplanes
bombed ISIS
command
centers and
tunnel
networks
in Falluja,
killing
dozens of
militants.
The
airstrikes
targeted
ISIS
tactical
units,
intelligence
sources
said.
Iraqi
security
forces said
Saturday's
advances
mean ISIS is
losing its
last
strategic
foothold
between
Falluja and
the rest of
Anbar
province to
the west, as
well as
other areas
to the
north.
In January
2014,
Falluja
became the
first Iraqi
city to fall
to ISIS --
dealing a
blow to Iraq
as well as
Western
countries
battling the
terrorist
group.
Saturday is
the first
time more
than two
years Iraqi
security
forces have
come this
close to a
full
takeover,
army
officials
said.
Parallel offensive
Meanwhile,
Syrian
forces made
progress
against the
militant
group in the
region
surrounding
the province
of Raqqa in
the first
push into
the area
since 2014.
The Syrian
Army, joined
by Russian
forces,
advanced
into the
province on
Saturday "in
a major
offensive
backed by
Russian
warplanes,"
according to
the
London-based
Syrian
Observatory
for Human
Rights
(SOHR).
Aid groups
say the
military
advance to
enter Raqqa,
located on
the north
bank of the
Euphrates
River, comes
after three
days of
intense
fighting.
"At least 26
ISIS
militants
and 9 Syrian
military
soldiers
were
killed,"
said SOHR.
This is the
first time
in two years
the Syrian
Army has
been inside
Raqqa
province.
As Syrian
forces fight
on the
ground, they
continue to
receive help
from the
international
coalition
targeting
ISIS from
the sky.
U.S.
officials
say
airstrikes
are having a
major effect
as Syrian
and Iraqi
troops and
their allies
continue to
claw back
ground from
ISIS in the
two
countries.
Jets take
off every
few minutes
from the
deck of the
USS Harry
Truman,
which has
about 75
strike
aircraft on
board. The
aircraft
carrier
recently
moved to the
Mediterranean
to be closer
to targets
in northern
Syria,
increasing
the
intensity of
the bombing
runs.
To date, the
coalition
has made
over 4,000
airstrikes
in Syria,
and over
double that
number in
Iraq.
A humanitarian crisis
The civil
war in Syria
has claimed
the lives of
more than
250,000
people
nationwide
and
displaced
more than 10
million,
according to
the United
Nations.
As the
battle for
Falluja
intensifies,
an estimated
50,000
people,
including
20,000
children,
are trapped
between
opposing
fighters,
according to
the United
Nations.
Men and boys
who refuse
to fight for
ISIS are
being
killed, and
civilians
have died in
heavy
shelling,
the United
Nations
says.
Aid groups
say ISIS is
using
thousands of
civilians
there as
human
shields.
The hundreds
who have
escaped say
Falluja
lacks food,
clean water
and medical
supplies.
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