Iraq: Progress in fight to oust ISIL from Falluja but ‘civilians face starvation’

[webfact]

Iraq: Progress in fight to oust ISIL from Falluja but ‘civilians face starvation’



FALLUJA: -- Amid fierce fighting on the road to Falluja, Iraqi forces and allied militiamen closed in on the ISIL stronghold on Thursday.

But alarming new reports emerged about the desperate plight of civilians trapped there.

Celebrating the liberation of nearby Karma – a key supply line for ISIL – Iraqi forces were congratulated by their Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi.

Abadi also appealed for an end to public protests against his government until Falluja has been recaptured from the extremists who have held it for over two years.

He insisted the main purpose of the military operation is to protect Falluja’s residents from terrorism, murder and torture carried out by the so-called Islamic State group, also known as Daesh.

The offensive began on Monday and, as the battle rages, some 50,000 civilians are said to be trapped there, without water, electricity or fuel.

The few who have managed to flee have reported cases of starvation, according to one NGO, the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The NRC, which assists refugees at a camp south of Falluja, said the fighting made it difficult to assess the full extent of ‘the dire situation in the city’.

One woman told the NRC her family had lived on dry dates and drank from the Euphrates River before escaping Falluja.

“If they stay in Falluja, they face possible starvation. If they try to escape, they risk being killed getting out,” NRC media coordinator Becky Bakr Abdulla said in a report, citing refugee accounts.


The final push to liberate Falluja is perilous. Roadside bombs and booby traps laid by ISIL have already had to be cleared. Many more are expected.

The offensive is part of a government campaign to roll back ISIL’s seizure of wide tracts of northern and western Iraq.

Iraqi forces retook Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital near Falluja, in December but have not yet tackled a bigger challenge – ISIL-held Mosul, Iraq’s largest northern city.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-05-27

[wabothai]

Israel with her impressive weapon arsenal may want to help out the Iraqies.

That's how you create your failing credibility as an honorful democracy.

[marko kok prong]

Plenty of us special forces in there too,not to long now before Isis collapses,they are also in big trouble in Syria,the ypg,fsa and again us special forces are now about 40km from Raqqa

[Thaidream]

Obama has handled this situation much better than Bush or any other leader. He has refused to put Americans back in Iraq in big numbers and relied on Special Forces to provide added training and intelligent to the Iraqi Forces. Bush, Cheney and the others would have reintroduced US forces into Iraq and also entered Syria in force. The Us government has spent billions in Iraq and came out with an Iraqi army that refused to fight and a government more interested in keeping power than defeating its enemies. The sad part about this is that none of the Arab countries will contribute ground forces or launch sufficient air operations. They want the Us to do it but Americans have had enough of the Middle East. The Arabs either fight or go back to the stone age-America goes home and takes care of its own people.