ISIS shooting civilians trying to flee Falluja, NGO says

[MariaThinks]

Source: CNN


CNN) — ISIS is targeting civilians attempting to leave the militant-held city of Falluja, as Iraqi forces and militia attempt to wrest back control of the city, a European non-profit operating in Iraq says.

As many as 50,000 residents remain trapped in the center of Falluja as Iraqi security forces close in, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told CNN Monday. Many of those who try to escape the clutches of ISIS are being targeted and shot by militants, it said.



"Our biggest fears are now tragically confirmed with civilians being directly targeted while trying to flee to safety," NRC Country Director in Iraq Nasr Muflahi said.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/middleeast/falluja-iraq-military-advance-isis/index.html

[leftynyc]

1. I've also read

isis is going house to house to round up people to fight for them, if the people refuse, they're killed on the spot. I have no idea what the answer is to this.

[MariaThinks]

2. This is so heartbreaking.

[romanic]

7. Sickening.

No wonder some citizens have commited suicide there.

[tabasco]

15. The answer is to stop electing leaders who lie us into unnecessary wars,

and other craven, gutless politicians who vote for war to "look tough."

[leftynyc]

16. WTF

does that have to do with what these 50,000 civilians are dealing with TODAY? Can you perhaps spare 5 fucking minutes to comment on this topic before you whine about politics again?

[tabasco]

19. It seems you don't like my answer.

That's too bad.

[leftynyc]

20. Your post is USELESS

that's my objection. It's like there's a fire next door and you whine about how the fire got started instead of grabbing a hose and DOING SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE.

[tabasco]

21. It seems you think my post is useless.

That's a shame.

[Botany]

3. And ISIS is the result of w, Cheney, & Tony Blair's Iraq war.

Tony Blair is right: without the Iraq war there would be no Islamic State


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/25/tony-blair-is-right-without-the-iraq-war-there-would-be-no-isis

[leftynyc]

4. So now what?

Now that you've gotten it out of your system on who deserves the blame for isis, what is your solution to this immediate problem of 50,000 civilians being stuck in Fallujah?

[Botany]

6. I wish I knew a solution

Outside of having US and NATO forces on the ground and coming at Fallujaha from
the other side* I don't know of any good solutions to this problem.



* Although this would probably not stop ISIS's killing of the civilians.

[PersonNumber503602]

9. I think outside ground forces would end up just being a temporary solution

Unless they plan on staying there for a very very very long time. I wonder what the current state of the Iraqi military is at this point. I also wonder if this entire ISIS mess would have any long-term unifying effect for the nation as a whole. Seeing what will happen if they do not work together to maintain stability and also to combat crazy groups like ISIS when they pop up. I'd be curious to hear from the average Iraqi if they feel differently now than they did before.

[riderinthestorm]

10. Its a civil war within Islam. We'll never be able to solve it with outside intervention

Unfortunately they're the only ones who can stop it themselves.

[leftynyc]

11. I happen to agree with you

Sunni vs Shia has been going on long before bush/dick were even born.

[romanic]

14. Agreed.

Even if the U.S. hadn't come into Iraq and sacked Saddam, there would still be shia vs sunni violence/wars in the area. I can only imagine what would have happened if Saddam had died naturally and the power struggle soon after...

[awoke_in_2003]

18. Sad but true. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. But that war was just an escalation ...

... of GHWB's war, which continued as WJC's war, and so on ...

Thanks to April Glaspie for giving Saddam such good advice.

[Igel]

12. We look for root causes.

And dig down until we find the root we like. Then we stop and insist that there's nothing deeper.

The Shi'a were oppressed. They were the largest group, got the fewest resources, and were constantly humiliated by having resources redirected from them to the Sunnis--this included their places of worship. The Sunnis were given money to reinforce their tribal structures, necessary to preserve Saddam's rule, and told they were a majority when they weren't. Saddam did the Stalin kind of thing in exacerbating local problems so that the only real solution was obeisance to the outside, central authority. Move people around to create tensions and weaken blocs opposed to you. So Saddam encouraged Sunnis to move into Shi'ite areas, and relocated Shi'ites to Kurdish areas. Create tension, weaken opposing groups.

This is what Ivan IV, the Golden Horde, the Ottoman Empire, and even the ancient Assyrians did. China's doing it with Tibet.

We can then only find unity by following The One.

Tito played a similar kind of game and that resulted in the uprising under Milosevic.

You either work to eliminate group boundaries or you rest your hopes in oppression, because intermingled co-existence is rare and difficult to maintain.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. All those poor people.

And all the other people seeking refuge that are dying in the Mediterranean Sea.

It is so awful.

[Eugene]

13. IS conflict: Falluja detainees 'tortured by Shia militias'

Source: BBC

IS conflict: Falluja detainees 'tortured by Shia militias'

6 June 2016 Middle East

The Iraqi government has been urged to investigate allegations that civilians detained during the battle for Falluja have been tortured by Shia militiamen.

An Anbar provincial council member told the BBC that hundreds were held as government forces fought Islamic State militants in the suburb of Saqlawiya.

Those released showed signs of severe torture, Sheikh Raja al-Issawi said.

Four people died as a result of their injuries and others were in a critical condition in hospital, he added.

Shia militias have been accused of committing serious abuses against Sunni civilians while helping the Iraqi government regain territory it lost to so-called Islamic State (IS) in 2014.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36458954

The Falluja civilians are getting it from both sides.

[Angel Martin]

17. this is part of the problem

the people in Falluja are Sunni.

They can stay and be killed by ISIS or used as human shields. Or they can leave town (if they can get out) and then take their chances with the Shiite militias