Fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah has displaced at least 30,000 people in three days, the Norwegian Refugee Council says Sunday, warning that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding.
Iraqi forces achieved a breakthrough on Thursday, taking over the center of Fallujah while the Islamic State group retreated to areas in the north of the city.
That allowed thousands of civilians who had been used as human shields to flee the city, a key jihadist stronghold west of Baghdad that had been besieged for months.
“The estimated total number of displaced from Fallujah in just the last three days is now at a staggering 30,000 people,” the NRC says in a statement.
The aid group, which runs displacement camps around Fallujah, says another 32,000 people had already been displaced since the start of the government offensive against the IS bastion nearly a month ago.
— AFP
Displaced Iraqis from the embattled city of Fallujah stand outside tents where they are taking shelter some 18 kilometers from Ramadi on June 18, 2016. ( AFP PHOTO / MOADH AL-DULAIMI)
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