The commander of the Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Fallujah was killed in an airstrike on the city, and bombing runs in advance of an Iraqi assault killed another 70 militants in recent days, the US military announced Friday.
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The United Nations on Friday said about 50,000 civilians are prevented by the hardline Sunni militants from escaping Falluja.
In recent days, a combined force of Iraqi army troops, police, Shiite militiamen and Sunni tribal fighters has made progress in clearing militants from areas around Fallujah, in preparation for a push into the city in western Anbar province.
The final battle to recapture the Islamic State stronghold near Baghdad will start in “days, not weeks”, a Shi’ite militia leader said on Friday, as new reports emerged of people starving to death in the besieged Sunni city.
Officials from Fallujah also said that civilians have been killed by shelling from forces outside the city, but the Iraqi military denies those claims. “By liberating Karma, the entire eastern Fallujah area is now under the control of the government forces”, he said.
The UN says it has reports of people dying of starvation and being killed for refusing to fight for ISIS.
A 21-year-old former resident, who identified himself only as Ahmed out of concern for his family’s safety, said he fled Fallujah more than a year ago – but even then, the militants’ tight grip on the city made it almost impossible to get out.
Fallujah fell to IS in 2014.
Separately, Oday al-Khidran, a commander of the Popular Mobilization units fighting alongside Iraqi security forces, said on Friday that they discovered the largest Daesh-dug tunnel network connecting different neighborhoods of Fallujah.
Fallujah is one of the terror group’s most important bastions. IS fighters have used civilians as human shields in the past, in some cases forcing families to flee with retreating fighters. “Every warrior knows that when we speak the names of the fallen, they live on”. The tactic makes airstrikes more hard. But for the militants in Fallujah, “there’s no withdrawal route”.
Iraqi military officials insisted that safe corridors would be established to allow civilians to flee, but residents said ISIL checkpoints along the city’s main roads have made escape almost impossible.
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“Our plans are humanitarian plans”, Harbiya said.
