ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State (ISIS) has arrested at least 500 civilians from Iraq’s Anbar province since taking over its capital, Ramadi, in mid-May, a provincial official said Thursday.
"Since ISIS captured most of Anbar, including Ramadi and Fallujah, some 500 civilians were arrested and jailed in the group’s secret prisons," said Ali Dauod, head of the Khalidiya distrcit council in Anbar.
He added that over the past few days ISIS has carried out torture and executions of civilians, including death by hanging, beheading and being burnt alive.
Daoud said ISIS was also using some of the detainees as human shields against an expected assault by Iraqi forces.
"Iraqi forces insist they would free the detainees and secure their safety,” once they move into Ramadi, Daoud said.
Meanwhile, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve last week praised Iraqi efforts toward the recapture of ISIS-held Ramadi, while declining to say when the provincial capital would be liberated.
“This is a tough fight. There's a lot of obstacles. There's a determined, dug-in enemy,” Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.
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