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.

AhlulBayt News Agency

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.