Roj Bash Kurdistan

On the frontlines of Fallujah: civilians escaping ISIS-held areas

Anthea: These poor confused people are running for their lives in an attempt to escape from coalition bombs and savage Shia attacks

Rudaw reached the frontlines of Fallujah to show the latest situation of this embattled town.A police officer told Rudaw that "the lives of those trying to flee ISIS are at stake."

"We help those families escape who are trying to flee ISIS," Talib Mohammed, an Anbar police officer, said.

Mohammed added that "ISIS opens fire on families fleeing the militants’ clutches."

While Talib was speaking to Rudaw, an escapee ran and reached the Iraqi forces

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/04062016

Shi'ite militia says it will storm Iraq's Falluja when families leave

Iranian-backed Sh'ite Iraqi militia said on Saturday it planned to storm Falluja, Islamic State's stronghold near Baghdad, once civilians left the city, backtracking on earlier statements that it would leave this task to the Iraqi army.

"We will not enter Falluja as long as there are families inside," said Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, the largest component of the Shi'ite paramilitary coalition known as Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization.

"Of course, we will go in and rid the city from the evil of this cancerous gland, with nobody preventing us," he said, when asked what would happen if civilians managed to flee the Sunni city that lies 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.

Falluja is the first Iraqi city that Islamic State captured, in January 2014, and the second largest still under its control after Mosul in the north. Sunni politicians have voiced concern that the presence of Shi'ite militias alongside the army in the battle to retake the city could lead to sectarian violence.

Amiri was speaking to reporters while touring one of the frontlines near Falluja. Last week he said the militias would take part in encirclement operations but leave the army to storm the city.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on June 1 the offensive to dislodge the ultra-hardline Sunni militants had slowed down in order to protect civilians. About 50,000 are trapped in the city, with limited access to water, food and healthcare, according to the United Nations.

Falluja is a historic bastion of the insurgency against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led authorities who took over after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKCN0YQ0OV

The Sunni residence of Fallujah have always hated and fought against the US and the savage Shi'ite army that has been attacking Sunni ever since they came to power in Iraq following the downfall of Saddam

Nobody protected the Sunni from the barbaric Shia when they were imprisoning, torturing, raping and killing innocent Sunni women

I SAY LEAVE FALLUJAH ALONE

I have a nasty feeling that ISIS will not be in a forgiving mood

For barbaric shiite militias vow to enter Fallujah to rout ‘evil’ is an oxymoron

“Of course, we will go in and rid the city from the evil of this cancerous gland, with nobody preventing us,” said Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, the largest militia group within the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition, speaking to reporters on the frontline near Fallujah on Saturday.

Under previous agreements, and by direction from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Shiite militia forces would not enter the city itself but would only participate in the liberation of areas surrounding Fallujah.

Hashd al-Shaabi has been accused of human rights violations and Sunnis called for them to not participate in the liberation of the Sunni city of Fallujah.

Amiri conceded that they would not enter the city until all civilians had left. “We will not enter Fallujah as long as there are families inside,” he said.

His statement today is a reversal of what he said just a week ago when he confirmed that Shiite militias would assist in encircling the city but would not join the Iraqi army in entering the city itself.

The campaign to liberate the city from Islamic State has stalled due to fierce resistance from ISIS militants, the presence of many IEDs, and concern for the 50,000 civilians believed to still be in the city.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/040620162