ISIL forces civilians to act as human shields as the battle for Ramadi rages

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By Euronews
ISIL forces civilians to act as human shields as the battle for Ramadi rages

As the Iraqi army continues to force ISIL out of the city of Ramadi.

A picture of life under the Sunni militant group is beginning to unfold.

ISIL took control of Ramadi last May and since then a months long battle has raged as Iraqi forces attempt to retake the city.

Severe shortages of food and water are a daily occurance in the rubble city.

As the army made inroads into Ramadi ISIL forced as many as 1,000 families into the east of the city killing or threatening to kill those that refused to move.


One man spoke of ISIL’s brutality:“Daesh may God punish them. They shot people in the head who refused to go with them to al-Sufiya. The bodies are still there. You can go and see them. There were seven.”

The Iraqi military claims they are being used as human shields.

Ramadi represents a rare success for the army against ISIL, which still controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.