'Eating grass and plants': besieged Fallujah residents desperate, says UN

[Sally]

In these wars, so many innocent people are the ones suffering.

APR 2016 - 8:47PM
'Eating grass and plants': besieged Fallujah residents desperate, says UN


AUDIO
The United Nations and aid officials say they are 'extremely worried' about the humanitarian situation in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where as many as 50,000 people are reportedly suffering from starvation.
Source:
SBS News
8 APR 2016 - 11:23 AM UPDATED YESTERDAY 8:47 PM
US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Iraq on Friday to show support for its prime minister as he grapples with a political crisis, a collapsing economy and a fitful fight to retake ground from Islamic State militants.

"The Secretary will underscore our strong support for the Iraqi government as it addresses significant security, economic, and political challenges," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

The United Nations and aid officials say they are "extremely worried" about the humanitarian situation in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where as many as 50,000 people reportedly facing starvation.

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'Eating grass and plants': besieged Fallujah residents desperate, says UN

 

[Sunni Man]

Oh my........

 

[waltky]

ISIS traps residents of Fallujah...

In Iraq battle, IS prevents Fallujah residents from fleeing
May 25,`16 -- The Islamic State group is preventing people from fleeing Fallujah amid a military operation to recapture the city west of Baghdad, a local Iraqi official and aid groups said on Wednesday.

Thousands of civilians are estimated to remain inside Fallujah, located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, which IS has held for over two years. On Sunday, government forces launched a large-scale offensive, teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition. Nearly 20 families have fled from Fallujah's outskirts, where sporadic clashes have been taking place, since the offensive started, said Shakir al-Issawi, the head of the council in the nearby town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah. Al-Issawi said no families managed to flee Wednesday as IS militants tightly control the city outlets.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid group working with refugees and the displaced in Iraq, reported that only 17 families has fled Fallujah since Sunday night and that most had fled from the city's outskirts. "There is no information for civilians about safe exits," said Becky Bakr Abdullah, an NRC spokeswoman. "There is also the fear of being killed for attempting to flee," Abdullah said, explaining that multiple families said IS is threatening residents with death if they attempt to flee. The International Organization for Migration put the number of newly displaced families at 125, about 750 individuals, in the past two days.

A man inspects the damage at his home after a bombing in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Clashes between Iraqi government forces and the Islamic State group outside the city of Fallujah briefly subsided on Tuesday, the second day of a large-scale military operation to drive militants out of their key stronghold west of Baghdad.​

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group made up mostly of Shiite militias, said the forces continued to dislodge IS militants from key areas in the town of Garma, east of Fallujah, which is considered the main supply line for the militants. Karim Al-Nouri added that forces had secured three safe corridors for families to flee, but the militants blocked those outlets to prevent them from leaving. Fallujah was the site of two bloody battles against U.S. forces in 2004. It is part of the so-called "Islamic Caliphate" the militants declared in territories under their control in Iraq and neighboring Syria. IS still controls key areas in Iraq, including the second-largest northern city of Mosul.

News from The Associated Press

 

[waltky]

ISIS usin' Fallujah residents as human shields...

Fallujah residents say ISIL is turning them into 'human shields'
May 26, 2016 — Civilians caught in the advance on Fallujah by Iraq's military are being forced by the Islamic State to serve as "human shields" in areas of the city where the militants expect airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, residents said Thursday. "The Islamic State began moving families living in the outskirts to the center," resident Salem al Halbusi said by telephone. "They are locking some families down inside the hospital building," added al Halbusi, who did not want other information about him disclosed to protect his safety.

Since Sunday, Iraqi military and militia forces have prepared to enter Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, as airstrikes have pounded the militant-held city. The Iraqi government said that recapturing the city is key to stopping a spate of Islamic State attacks in the capital that have killed hundreds over the past few months. Military officials said Fallujah, which is nearly surrounded by the military and militias, has almost cut off the extremist group from its supply and reinforcement routes. The head of command for the province where Fallujah is located, Gen. Ismail al Mahlalwai, said the noose is tightening around the city. "We killed around 100 (Islamic State) militants since Tuesday and we blew up 18 car bombs to the south and east of Fallujah," he said.

Despite that progress, local police in the city said in a statement that the Islamic State was throwing up obstacles that include booby traps and improvised explosive devices that would need to be cleared before ground troops can enter the city. Meanwhile, the militants are squeezing civilians, residents and military officials said. "They are making people freak out over the (arrival of) Iraqi forces by telling them, 'The army and militia are coming to kill you all,'" said resident al Halbusi. "They are telling the people, 'They want to take revenge on all the people of Fallujah.'" "They claim they have achieved a big victory against Iraqi forces," he added. "And they distributed some sweets for kids for the first time, trying to get people on their side, as they know their end is so close."

Fallujah is largely a city of Sunnis, the same Muslim sect as the militants, while the government, armed forces and militias are composed mainly of Shiites. The militants, who captured the city in 2014 when they first swept into Iraq, have held the support of many Sunnis around the country by warning that the Shiites are their enemy. So far, more than a dozen families have escaped Fallujah, mostly from the outskirts, and have taken shelter with the Iraqi army, according to a Joint Operation Center statement. Most have been placed in a camp, and the men separated from their families as security forces question them. Remaining residents say any civilian caught trying to escape the city or hanging a white flag as advised by the military to protect themselves during airstrikes are doing so under the threat of death. "We are living under a curfew for days, and we are not allowed to leave our houses," said Abo Ahmad al Essawi. "(The Islamic State) is saying, 'You will be killed if you do.'"

The U.S.-led coalition has increased the number of airstrikes around Fallujah over the past week, Air Force Lt. Gen Charles Brown said Thursday. He added that the coalition takes great care to minimize civilian casualties anytime it conducts a strike. Over the past 24 hours, coalition aircraft launched four strikes around Fallujah, targeting three separate Islamic State units, two tunnels, four vehicles, an artillery piece, a weapons cache and three fighting positions, U.S. Central Command announced Thursday. Conditions in the city have been steadily deteriorating over the past few months, according to a United Nations report last month. It said residents face acute shortages of food and medicine. "We want the army to arrive soon to get out of this prison," said al Essawi. "Our life became miserable. We don't have food to eat anymore." While they continue to display bravado about the coming fight, the Islamic State know they are likely to lose, al Essawi added. "We can feel they are freaked out. Some of them shaved their beards (grown as a symbol of a devoted Muslim). It's a hint that they are sure it's over."

Fallujah residents say ISIL is turning them into 'human shields'

See also:

Islamic State's Fallujah Commander Killed in Coalition Airstrike
May 27, 2016 — The commander of the Islamic State group's forces in Fallujah has been killed in an airstrike, a spokesman for the international coalition battling IS fighters in Iraq and Syria said Friday.

Col. Steve Warren, speaking via teleconference from Baghdad, said the coalition strike targeting Maher al-Bilawi in Fallujah happened two days ago. He said the coalition had gathered information on the militants’ headquarters and on Bilawi’s whereabouts in the city. "This is some intelligence we had developed locally. We worked it very rapidly and we took an effective strike," Warren said. Warren said the coalition has conducted 20 airstrikes at Fallujah in the last four days, killing more than 70 enemy fighters. Coalition forces at al-Taqqaddum Air Base, about 25 kilometers away, are also providing some artillery fire to help Iraqis battling to retake the city.

Thousands of forces, including members of the Iraqi army, police, Sunni tribal fighters and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) are battling an estimated 1,000 Islamic State fighters who have extensively fortified the city with trenches and minefields. Shiite militia groups are also involved in the fight but have said they will remain outside the city.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford, the top U.S. general, told VOA and two other reporters last week that the Iraqis are trying to mitigate the risk of attacks from Fallujah into Baghdad, which is less than 70 kilometers away. "There’s clearly a threat given the proximity,” Dunford said, “and so what the Iraqis are doing is taking appropriate action to disrupt that threat and to isolate the enemy that's inside of Fallujah.” Up to 50,000 civilians remain in Fallujah, Warren said, adding that protecting these citizens is Iraqi government’s “priority.”

Strike Killed Maher al-Bilawi Two Days Ago

 

[waltky]

Like the scarlet cord in Rahab's window...

50,000 Iraqi Civilians Trapped in Fallujah Told to 'Put White Sheets on Their Roofs'
May 31, 2016 - An estimated 50,000 civilians remain in Fallujah, as Iraqi troops begin their push to liberate that city, a U.S. military spokesman told reporters on Friday.

"We have dropped leaflets to inform the population to avoid ISIL areas," Col. Steve Warren said. "Those leaflets directed those who cannot leave to put white sheets on their roofs to mark their locations. The Iraqi Army is working hard to establish evacuation routes. And the local Anbar government has set up camps for displaced civilians." Warren said the U.S. military has seen "some white sheets" and some people waving on rooftops. Some civilians have managed to get out of the ISIS-controlled city, but most cannot leave: "This is an enemy that doesn't want the civilian population to leave. Why?" Because they want to hide behind the civilian population. They know it makes it harder for us.

"So this is -- it's going to be -- it's going to be a hard challenge to find a way to liberate this city and still keep the civilian population as safe as possible. And the Iraqis understand that they have a challenge on their hands. And we're working closely with them. The international community is here working closely with them -- the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations. "Everyone here is working together to try and solve this problem of liberating Fallujah, while at the same time protecting the very civilians that we're trying to liberate. "So it's a -- it's a hard problem," Warren said. "There are no easy solutions to it, but we're going to keep trying. We're going to continue to advise the Iraqis on what's best to do. And we're going to get the city liberated.

A reporter asked Warren, "Is there any reason to believe that ISIS will not simply just put white sheets on some of their facilities to avoid being struck?" "They most likely will," Warren replied, "and this is part of the complexity of urban warfare." Warren said it's unclear how long the battle in Fallujah will last. He also noted that "every city in Iraq's got to get cleared" of Islamic State fighters. "I mean, that's what we're here for. We're here to clear Daesh, clear ISIL out of Iraq. So we're going to every city sooner or later, it's just a question of sequencing." According to Warren, the city of Mosul "is our ultimate objective in Iraq," but given the recent rash of bombings in Baghdad, Iraqi leaders decided now was the time to liberate Fallujah. "We understand that completely and we accept it, and we're providing devastating airpower in support of the decision that the prime minister of Iraq made to liberate Fallujah."

Warren said the Iraqi troops involved in Fallujah are different from those that will be used in Mosul. "So the Mosul forces are continuing their preparations, continuing the force-generation process, while the Fallujah, while the Anbar forces conduct operations in Anbar." "Now, certainly (the effort to liberate Fallujah) is going to bleed-off some leadership attention. That's to be expected. But, you know, if this operation goes rapidly, we'll see Fallujah liberated which will then really have great benefit, I think, because that will take some of the pressure off the political leadership in Baghdad. "It will cause the Iraqi population to rest a little easier, particularly the Baghdad population, which of course is the center of gravity for Iraq."

50,000 Iraqi Civilians Trapped in Fallujah Told to 'Put White Sheets on Their Roofs'

See also:

The fight for Falluja: Human shields and 20,000 children trapped
Wed June 1, 2016 - ISIS-held Falluja is surrounded by Iraqi-forces, which are expected to storm the city soon. An estimated 50,000 people -- 20,000 of whom are children, the U.N. says -- are trapped in the city.

There are reports that hundreds of families are being used by ISIS as human shields in the center of Falluja; that men and boys who refuse to fight for ISIS are being executed; and that civilians have been killed in heavy shelling, according to the U.N. And many experts believe that ISIS has booby traps, snipers, IEDs and other deadly surprises waiting. "This will not be without cost," said Lt. Col. Rick Francona , another CNN military analyst. "The outcome is pretty much assured -- [the question is] what is the cost going to be on either side."

Some analysts say it will be a while before the terror group is driven out of the city. "This is going to be a tough fight," says retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a military analyst for CNN. "The Iraqi government says they should close it down within two days and clear the forces. I doubt that... I think it's going to take much longer than that." Hundreds, mostly women and children, fled Falluja on Friday as Iraqi soldiers attacked to drive ISIS from the city, the Iraqi military said.

Smoke rises as Iraqi forces face off with ISIS militants on the southern edge of Falluja, Iraq, on Tuesday, May 31. Falluja remains one of the last two Iraqi cities under ISIS control.​

Those who escaped say the city lacks food, clean water and medical supplies. "With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical," said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council country director in Iraq. "Getting there in the first place is near impossible for those in the city center."

Progress

The Iraqi-led operation to liberate Falluja is just days old, and the city is already surrounded. Experts say they're surprised at the professionalism and efficacy of Iraqi forces, which were in tatters nearly two years ago. "They seem to have gotten their act together -- they did exactly what they were supposed to do," Francona said.

ISIS pushes back

Related:

Children caught in the firing line as airstrikes target Syrian city
Tue May 31, 2016 - At least 23 people were killed in airstrikes Monday night in the Syrian city of Idlib, according to a humanitarian group.

One of the strikes hit near a local hospital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Earlier reports that the hospital was struck directly were incorrect, said the Observatory's Rami Abdulrahman. A Syrian, he and others with the group are based in the United Kingdom, and communicate constantly with people on the ground in Syria. Video posted by the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer search-and-rescue operation in the country, showed responders digging through the rubble, searching for survivors. One rescuer could be seen lifting the body of a young boy in his arms, his face covered in dust.

Dangers in Syria

Syria has been one of the more dangerous places in the world to work in for doctors. As of December, 57% of public hospitals and 51% of public health centers in Syria are either partially functioning or closed down, according to the World Health Organization. About 15,000 doctors have fled Syria, according to the NGO Medics Under Fire, and those that remain risk their lives on a daily basis. Hospitals have increasingly been caught in the crossfire, with multiple sides accused of hitting medical facilities. They have long been considered safe zones during the fighting, and medical workers will often give hospital locations to all parties involved to avoid being hit.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad has been consistently accused of targeting hospitals, which is a war crime. "Syria is the most dangerous place in the world to be a doctor," Medics Under Fire says. "Medical workers are systematically targeted by the Syrian government in a bid to weaken the civilian areas not under its control." In April, at least 50 people were killed when a pediatric hospital in Aleppo was hit, drawing international condemnation. Two doctors, two nurses, one guard and one maintenance worker were killed, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the Assad regime for the attacks.

Other hospital strikes

Hospitals in war zones other than Syria have also come under fire recently. Five people were killed and 10 others wounded in a January strike on a hospital backed by MSF in Yemen. It's unclear which side was responsible for the "projectile" that struck the facility. In October, the United States accidentally struck a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing 19 people -- 12 staffers and seven patients. U.S. officials have since apologized for the incident.

An internal investigation revealed that U.S. forces were targeting a Taliban location 400 meters away from the hospital. The Pentagon announced in April that 16 people would be disciplined in the incident. Some personnel involved "failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict," but maintained the strike was not a war crime because it resulted from unintentional human error and equipment failure. MSF has pushed for an independent investigation into the incident.

Airstrikes in Syria kill 23 - CNN.com

 

[waltky]

Fallujah refugee camp overwhelmed...

Civilians who fled Fallujah facing lack of food, water in refugee camp
June 22, 2016 -- Families in Iraq who fled fighting in Fallujah are now living in dangerous conditions, with some sleeping in the open desert as food, water and supplies run low.

More than 85,000 people have escaped Fallujah in recent weeks as Iraqi security forces battled to seize control of Iraq's second-largest city away from the Islamic State. The surge in internally displaced people seeking aid in camps near Fallujah have further strained the supplies of humanitarian agencies. "Women are sleeping on the bare ground here ... My family has been here for five days and we have no water, only one blanket shared by seven people," Saleh, an Iraqi man from Fallujah, told the Norwegian Refugee Council. "Only today they filled the water tank ... why is this happening to us? Let the United Nations help us and come and see how much we are suffering, let them see what we're going through."

The surge in fleeing families is attributed to IS militants retreating from checkpoints in the city. The militants killed or captured civilians who attempted to flee Fallujah. Humanitarian agencies warn temperatures nearing 120 degrees Fahrenheit have threatened the lives of children, pregnant woman, the elderly and disabled people.

Iraqi officials said at least 2,500 Islamic State militants have been killed in the past month since Iraqi security forces began the offensive. At least 4.4 million people in Iraq are internally displaced. "What we're seeing is the consequence of a delayed and heavily underfunded response with an extreme toll on the civilians fleeing from one nightmare and living through another one," Norwegian Refugee Council Director Nasr Muflahi said in a statement. "The situation is deteriorating by the day and people are going to die in those camps unless essential aid arrives now. Fallujah may have been retaken but its citizens are facing a catastrophe.

Civilians who fled Fallujah facing lack of food, water in refugee camps

 

[waltky]

A real logistics nightmare - trapped in desert camps after fleeing from Fallujah...

Iraqis suffer in desert camps after flight from Fallujah
Jun 27,`16) -- Tens of thousands of Iraqis who survived a harrowing flight from Fallujah now find themselves in sprawling desert camps with little food, water or shelter. The growing humanitarian crisis less than an hour's drive from Baghdad has reinforced the region's deep-seated distrust of the government, and could undermine recent gains against the Islamic State group.

As Iraqi forces battled their way into the city and Islamic State militants melted away, Khaled Suliman Ahmed fled in a wheelchair, joining hundreds of others fleeing on foot into the desert. When the wheelchair broke down after 10 kilometers (six miles), his sons and wife took turns carrying him over their shoulders, and when they saw the tents in the distance, they assumed their nightmare was over. "I thought we were going to be saved from hell and brought to heaven," Ahmed said, "but we were surprised by what we found here."

What they found was a sprawling camp in the desert with little food or water, and nowhere near enough tents to shelter the tens of thousands of civilians who had descended on it. They joined thousands of people living out in the open, where midday temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (120 F). Iraqi forces declared Fallujah "fully liberated" on Sunday. Months of planning went into the military operation to retake the city, which had been held by IS for more than two years and was the group's last stronghold in the vast Anbar province. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has hailed a recent string of victories against IS in Anbar, and last week proclaimed that Fallujah had "returned to the embrace of the nation."

Displaced civilians from Fallujah, who fled their homes during fighting between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State group, at a camp at Amariyat Fallujah, Iraq. Tens of thousands of Iraqis who survived a harrowing flight from Fallujah now find themselves in sprawling desert camps with little food, water or shelter. The growing humanitarian crisis less than an hour’s drive from Baghdad has reinforced the region’s deep-seated distrust of the government, and could undermine recent gains against the Islamic State group.​

But the government was ill-prepared to deal with the humanitarian crisis now unfolding less than an hour's drive west of Baghdad, where the U.N. estimates that 85,000 people have fled their homes in the past month. The conditions in the camps are reinforcing perceptions of a government that is hopelessly corrupt and ineffective. That could fuel unrest in the overwhelmingly Sunni province, which has a history of rebellion against the Shiite-led government going back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

A government spokesman acknowledged that authorities had been surprised by the wave of displaced, and said an emergency allocation of another $8.5 million in aid was approved earlier this month. "Given the high population density inside the city, we prepared four camps before the operation," government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi told The Associated Press. "But the large number of displaced people and the quick movement has made it very hard to meet their needs." Ahmed, who escaped Fallujah in a wheelchair, described the harrowing final days of IS rule, when his family huddled indoors as the city was bombarded by airstrikes and artillery. They lived off stale bread and dates, and prayed for liberation.

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See also:

Homes burned, looted in Iraqi city after defeat of militants
Jun 27,`16) -- Dozens of homes were looted and burned as Fallujah was liberated from the Islamic State group, and Iraqi government forces Monday accused the retreating militants. Some provincial police, however, blamed the fires on Shiite militias operating with the federal police.

The allegations of sectarian incidents in Fallujah are on a much smaller scale than those that unfolded in another Sunni-majority city, Tikrit, after government-sanctioned Shiite militias helped retake it from the IS group. The Iraqi government had sought to try to prevent similar abuses in the Fallujah campaign. Iraqi forces declared Sunday they had "fully liberated" Fallujah from the Sunni-led extremist group that took over the city 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad more than two years ago. The operation, backed by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, began May 22, and involved a number of different Iraqi security forces: elite special operations troops, federal police, Anbar provincial police, and an umbrella group of government-approved mostly Shiite militias. Thick clouds of black smoke billowed over the Julan neighborhood in northwestern Fallujah, one of the last strongholds of the militants, from dozens of burning homes.

Special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi who led the operation to retake the city, said IS militants had torched hundreds of houses in Fallujah's north and west as they fled Sunday, just as the fighters did in many other neighborhoods in the last five weeks. But some commanders said many of the fires burning Monday were lit by Shiite militiamen operating with the federal police. Cpl. Arsan Majid, an Anbar provincial policeman, said he saw men in federal police uniforms looting and burning dozens of homes. An Iraqi special forces soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, confirmed Majid's account.

Thick clouds of black smoke billowed over the Julan neighborhood in northwest Fallujah Monday as dozens of homes continued to burn a day after the city was declared “fully liberated” from the Islamic State group. Iraqi special forces Lt. Gen. Abdel Wahab al-Saadi who led the operation to retake the city, said that IS militants torched hundreds of houses in Fallujah's north and west as they fled Sunday, just as the fighters did in many of the city's other neighborhoods over the course of the operation.​

The Shiite militias largely had remained on Fallujah's outskirts during the operation while the special forces and federal police took the lead in clearing the center of the city. Fearing sectarian conflict, authorities did not want the militias inside the city that has long been a stronghold of Sunni opposition to the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. However, small numbers of militia fighters entered the center of the city with Iraq's federal police forces, according to Iraqi commanders and Associated Press reporters at the scene. Standing under a highway overpass Monday, a group of Iraqi troops argued over the cause of the smoke. "It's impossible to know who lit those fires," one man yelled. He pointed down a street of opulent homes used by the militants as bases - all marked with IS graffiti and all completely charred by flames from the inside out.

In one home, melted curtains still hung in the windows and the bright periwinkle paint decorating the sitting room had blistered from the heat. "Daesh did it, just like they did here," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Majid, of the Anbar police, initially nodded his agreement in front of the group, but later, he whispered to a reporter that Shiite militias operating with the federal police were to blame. "They destroyed 50 homes in a single day," he said out of earshot of the group of Iraqi army officers.

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