UN: ISIS may be using hundreds of families as human shields in Fallujah

[Perrine]

[quote]ISIS is reportedly using civilian "human shields" in Fallujah as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces push into the militant-held city, the U.N. warned Tuesday.

The alarm was sounded as Iraq's military announced it was less that 2 miles from the center of Fallujah, which has been under ISIS control since 2014.

The U.N. refugee agency said an estimated 3,700 people have fled Fallujah over the past week and that there were reports of civilian casualties from heavy shelling as the battle has heated up.

"There are also reports of several hundred families being used as human shields," the agency's spokesperson William Spindler told a press conference.

A spokesman for Iraq's counter-terrorism unit, which is leading the charge, told NBC News that the pro-Baghdad forces were fighting in the Nuaimiya district in southern Fallujah.

"U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi Air Force are providing aerial coverage for our ground forces," the spokesman, Sabah Nuaman, added.

Monday's drive into Nuaimiya — a mainly agricultural area south of the city — was Iraqi forces' first attempt to enter Fallujah after concentrating on flushing militants out of the surrounding areas.[/quote]

[url]http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/u-n-says-isis-may-be-using-human-shields-fallujah-n583016[/url]
[url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/islamic-state-using-human-shields-in-falluja-iraq/7465032[/url]
[url]https://www.yahoo.com/news/3-700-flee-falluja-amid-reports-islamic-state-095059896.html[/url]
[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-falluja-idUSKCN0YM0OW[/url]

[Charades]

What do you even do in this situation?

Do you just accept the mournful victory and high civilian casualties or do you surround the city and wait it out? I can't imagine either outcome is really all that great for the families.

[jamzzster]

This is really bad, they can't just attack now can they?

[Codemaster85]

[QUOTE=Charades;50433243]What do you even do in this situation?

Do you just accept the mournful victory and high civilian casualties or do you surround the city and wait it out? I can't imagine either outcome is really all that great for the families.[/QUOTE]

the second is exactly what happened in the battle for fallujah back in the iraq war. they starved them out and went in. it was heavy casualties (by modern standards) on both sides.

[Fantastical]

[QUOTE=jamzzster;50433293]This is really bad, they can't just attack now can they?[/QUOTE]
Knowing how stupid the commanders of the Iraqi army are, they probably won't care and just attack anyways. Use lots of artillery too.

[SepiaGnome]

I never like the use of the term 'human shield' in this context.
It always sounds like they're avoiding admitting that they're fighting a guerilla force they know they can't defeat.

[Strikerrr]

[QUOTE=jamzzster;50433293]This is really bad, they can't just attack now can they?[/QUOTE]

The attack is stalled
[QUOTE]Iraq has delayed its assault on the city of Falluja because of fears for the safety of civilians, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Wednesday, as his forces halted at the city's edge in the face of ferocious resistance from Islamic State fighters.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-falluja-idUSKCN0YN4JM?[/url]
However, this also allows ISIS to regroup and puts pressure on the units surrounding the city if they have to hold their positions for months.
[URL="https://twitter.com/AJABreaking/status/738013430133731328?ref_src=twsrc^tfw=twsrc^tfw"]There's already been a report that ISIS has killed 33 Iraqi soldiers in an ambush south of Fallujah[/URL]