Ruthless ISIS hits back as Iraqi army moves into
Falluja
Iraqi soldiers. File Photo.
Militants from the so-called Islamic State have launched
a dawn counter-attack as Iraqi government troops push
into the city of Falluja.
A day after troops advanced through the southern
suburb of Nuaimiya, scores of IS fighters attacked them,
army officers told news agencies.
The army defeated the attackers but suffered casualties,
the sources said.
Aid workers are increasingly concerned for the safety of
50,000 civilians said to be trapped in Falluja.
Reports speak of people starving to death and of being
killed for refusing to fight for IS.
The Iraqi military has urged those remaining to either
leave the city or stay indoors but IS is preventing
civilians from fleeing.
IS claims to be successfully repelling the Iraqi army
offensive against it in Falluja, providing battle footage
and images as evidence.
Last week, the group highlighted what it said was the
impact of the offensive on civilians in the city, releasing
footage of severely-injured children that was then widely
shared on social media. The group typically shows
images of civilian casualties to undermine anti-IS
military campaigns.
Although IS has not commented on civilians trapped in
the city in the latest offensive, it has in the past warned
Sunni Muslims against leaving IS-held territory.
And last week its spokesman, Abu-Muhammad al-
Adnani, said that IS militants would "fight to the death"
in all its strongholds even if it meant the death of
civilians - indicating that the group will pursue a
scorched earth policy.
As such, it is unlikely that IS would allow civilians to
leave Falluja. The UN refugee agency says families have
reported being used as human shields by IS, forced to
move with militants from one location to another.
Falluja fell to IS in January 2014, a key moment in the
Sunni Muslim jihadist group's rise that saw it declare a
caliphate across swathes of Iraq and Syria.
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It is one of two major cities held by IS in Iraq - the other
being Mosul.
Lt Gen Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the overall commander of
the Falluja operation, told AFP news agency around 100
IS fighters had taken part in the attack and 75 of them
had been killed.
"They came at us heavily armed but did not use car
bombs or suicide bombers," he said.
But two officers with special forces in the area told the
Associated Press news agency that the jihadists had
sent out six explosives-laden cars, none of which
reached their targets.
IS also used snipers and tunnels in the attack, they
added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee
Council, which helps families displaced from the city,
warned on Tuesday that a "human catastrophe" was
unfolding in Falluja.
"Families are caught in the crossfire with no safe way
out," he said.
"Warring parties must guarantee civilians safe exit now,
before it's too late and more lives are lost."
The situation of civilians in the city is dire, the BBC's
Jim Muir reports from Iraq.
They have lived through a nine-month siege with little
food or medicine and now they face mortal danger if
there is an all-out assault on the city centre, our
correspondent says.
The IS fighters are being widely accused of using them
as human shields, he adds.
