Fallujah: Death pit for civilians

Iraqi civilians fleeing the city of Fallujah have been shot at by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters who are holed up in the besieged city, an international aid group told Al Jazeera.

Nasr Muflahi, country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), confirmed several such incidents based on testimonies from civilians who were directly targeted by ISIL gunmen on Sunday.

Civilians who manage to leave the central city are received in camps set up by the government and the UN, where they get basic medical care, Muflahi said.

Fighters battling to retake Fallujah from IS say they have secured its southern edge and have almost completely encircled the city.

A leader of the Iran-backed Shia coalition taking part in the offensive said on Sunday the only side of Fallujah that remained to be secured by pro-Baghdad forces was part of the western bank of the Euphrates.

"We are now at the gates of Fallujah," Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, told a news conference broadcast on state TV.

People fleeing Fallujah have been using anything that floats to help them get across the river, which is about 250 to 300 metres wide at the crossing point in farmland just south of the city. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, confirmed that several people, including children, have drowned while trying cross the river.

An Iraqi family who managed to cross the river heads for shelter nearby. Photo: AP

About 50,000 civilians live in Fallujah, 50km from Baghdad, with limited access to water, food and healthcare. So far about 18,000 people have fled from towns and villages around Fallujah, according to the NRC.

Reports said residents saw IS members shaving their beards Sunday for the first time, as they have done in the past to try to mingle with fleeing civilians when they are about to lose a town to the Iraqi forces.