She adds that the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces say the goal is to “seize the countryside north of Raqqa, and that forces from the US -led coalition will accompany the campaign”. “We’ve already begun providing people with food, water and shelter as they arrive and we’ll be there as more people arrive”.
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Separately, an Iraqi army helicopter gunship destroyed an explosive-laden auto and killed its suicide bomber in Garma town in Rashad area, some 10 km northeast of Fallujah, he said.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the armed forces had been “instructed to preserve the lives of citizens in Falluja and protect public and private property”.
US -led coalition warplanes and Iraqi aircraft were providing support, Mahalawi said.
About 100,000 civilians are estimated to be in Fallujah which, in January 2014, became the first Iraqi city to be captured by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.
And with tens of thousands of residents unable to flee the clutches of ISIS, the United Nations fears that civilians will pay a heavy toll for the liberation of the city. “We heard from people who escaped from the city how ISIS militants are prepared for this battle”. The authorities have pledged to retake Mosul, the north’s biggest city, this year in keeping with a USA plan to oust Islamic State from their de facto capitals in Iraq and Syria.
“Fallujah will return to Iraqis similar to the hundreds of villages and towns which were returned to its people and were liberated from the IS oppression and treachery”, he said.
The city on the Euphrates River had a prewar population of about 300,000 and is known as the City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques.
“Also the families are hesitating to take these exits. because they’re afraid of what’s waiting for them on the other side, which are the popular mobilization forces”, Halbusi said, referring to the Shiite militias now arrayed outside the city.
With forces converging on the city, concerns mounted that the tens of thousands of civilians believed to still be inside had nowhere to go.
“We are receiving distressing reports of civilians trapped inside Fallujah who are desperate to escape to safety, but can’t”, said Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq.
The Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella paramilitary organisation, dominated by Iran-backed Shi’ite militias that are heavily involved in the operation, said ground was also gained south of Fallujah.
In an update issued on Thursday, the Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid group working with refugees and internally displaced people in Iraq, said 41 families have fled from the outskirts of Fallujah in the past day, bringing the number of escaped families to 114.
“I’m afraid ISIS is going to use [Fallujah residents] as human shields to prevent the Iraqi forces from retaking the city”, he added.
“The pamphlets showed a destroyed urban area in black-and-white with civilians running past dead Islamic State fighters toward a vibrant green countryside”.
The offensive in Fallujah might complicate efforts to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
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“Fighting has intensified, but there are still no safe routes out of Fallujah for the trapped civilians”, NRC said in a statement Thursday.
