The United Nations is worried about ISIS actions in Iraq. United Nations vehicle. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
The terror group ISIS (ISIL) continues to rack up war crimes in its account, and hundreds of innocent Iraqis are believed to be at risk of pay the consequences for those actions. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman William Spindler told the media on Monday that they have reports that ISIS is using hundreds of families as human shields in the city of Fallujah.
Spindler, whose comments were summarized on the UNHCR website, said that seven members of the same family were among the civilian casualties in heavy shelling on Fallujah in recent days, while thousands have already fled the scene, and for good reason. Residents of Fallujah told USA Today that ISIS threatening death to anyone fleeing the city and are instead moving people to the center of the city, including locking them in a hospital building. That might sound safe, but when it comes to ISIS, it isn’t.
The other front against ISIS in Syria has seen hospitals become danger zones. US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Michele Sison was quoted in a press release from her agency as saying that overall in the Syrian civil war, which includes the fight against ISIS, “over 725 doctors have been killed, and over 350 attacks on medical facilities have taken place—the vast majority by the [Syrian] regime, although ISIL has also directed multiple bombings of medical centers.”
In her comments, Sison cited UN Under-Secretary-General Stephen O’Brien’s sentiment that in Syria “proximity to a hospital is now perceived by neighbors to be a threat to their own safety.” Sison also said that ISIS’ assault on the city of Aleppo has included attacks on medical facilities and staff.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, a first-time attempt by ISIS to sway loyalty by giving kids sweets in Fallujah had one resident declaring the terrorists know they are about to lose. The question is, will it come in time for the civilians living there?
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, May 31, 2016)