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.
UNICEF: 20,000 children trapped inside Falluja 01:40
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.
