UN alarmed about families used as 'human shields'
The United Nations raised alarm on Tuesday concerning the fate of 300-400 Iraqi families rounded up by Islamic State group jihadists, possibly for use as human shields in the battleground city Fallujah.
UN officials have received "credible reports that families are being concentrated into the center of the city by Daesh and they are not allowed to leave these concentration points," said UN deputy representative to Iraq Lise Grande, using a term for the IS group.
"That would suggest that Daesh could be using them or may intend to use them as some kind of human shield," she told reporters.
"They are at extreme risk if there is a military confrontation."
Iraqi forces launched an offensive a week ago to recapture Fallujah, which became an IS group stronghold after its fighters seized the city in January 2014.
The United Nations has raised concerns with the Iraqi government, which has slowed down the pace of its operation to try to protect the trapped families.
The government is "fully aware" of the need to protect civilians during the assault, Grande said. "The operation is moving more slowly than it might otherwise," she added.
Only 5,000 civilians of the 50,000 trapped in the city have managed to escape, many of whom walked for hours and came under fire as they fled, Grande said.
Fallujah and Mosul - the capital of the northern province of Nineveh - are the last two major cities the IS group holds in Iraq.
At least 20,000 children are trapped in Fallujah and face shortages and forced recruitment as fighters, the UN Children's Fund said on Wednesday.
"UNICEF estimates that at least 20,000 children remain trapped in the city," the agency's Iraq representative Peter Hawkins said. "Children who are recruited see their lives and futures jeopardized as they are forced to carry and use arms, fighting in an adult war."
Iraqi forces faced tough resistance from the Islamic State as they attempted to enter the center of Fallujah on Tuesday.
(China Daily 06/02/2016 page12)
