FALLUJA, IRAQ — (CNN) 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.
Ground gained
Iraqi security forces, with the support of other militia, stormed the first neighborhood in southern Falluja at the weekend after recapturing the district of al Nuaimiya — 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from central Falluja.
Separately, Iraqi security forces recaptured the key small town of Saqlawiya, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) northwest of Falluja, on Saturday. Troops there “raised the national flag over the town’s main buildings,” Iraq’s Joint Operation Command said.
The Iraqi military swept through the streets conducting searches for “hundreds of IEDs” that ISIS planted throughout Saqlawiya, military officials said.
Coalition warplanes carried out an airstrike on ISIS militants as they were trying to escape on a raft on the Euphrates River, south of the city, killing everyone aboard raft, the officials said.
The takeover of Saqlawiya comes a day after coalition warplanes bombed ISIS command centers and tunnel networks in Falluja, killing dozens of militants.
The airstrikes targeted ISIS tactical units, intelligence sources said.
Iraqi security forces said Saturday’s advances mean ISIS is losing its last strategic foothold between Falluja and the rest of Anbar province to the west, as well as other areas to the north.
In January 2014, Falluja became the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIS — dealing a blow to Iraq as well as Western countries battling the terrorist group. Saturday is the first time more than two years Iraqi security forces have come this close to a full takeover, army officials said.
Parallel offensive
Meanwhile, Syrian forces made progress against the militant group in the region surrounding the province of Raqqa in the first push into the area since 2014.
The Syrian Army, joined by Russian forces, advanced into the province on Saturday “in a major offensive backed by Russian warplanes,” according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Aid groups say the military advance to enter Raqqa, located on the north bank of the Euphrates River, comes after three days of intense fighting.
“At least 26 ISIS militants and 9 Syrian military soldiers were killed,” said SOHR.
This is the first time in two years the Syrian Army has been inside Raqqa province.
The civil war in Syria has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people nationwide and displaced more than 10 million, according to the United Nations.
As the battle for Falluja intensifies, an estimated 50,000 people, including 20,000 children, are trapped between opposing fighters, according to the United Nations.
Men and boys who refuse to fight for ISIS are being killed, and civilians have died in heavy shelling, the United Nations says.
Aid groups say ISIS is using thousands of civilians there as human shields.
The hundreds who have escaped say Falluja lacks food, clean water and medical supplies.
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