ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—As Iraqi troops close in on Ramadi hundreds of families are stranded and prevented by Islamist militants from leaving the city for safety elsewhere, residents said Friday.
“We are trying to escape and reach safety but ISIS is threatening us,” a family inside the city told Rudaw.
Thousands of Iraqi troops backed by heavy artillery and Shiite militia have surrounded the provincial capital of Anbar and inch closer towards the city proper, military sources said.
The family who spoke to Rudaw said that many Islamic State (ISIS) militants have gone from the city in the past several days and fewer numbers have remained to fight back the advancing troops.
The family said that the civilians fear for their lives as the battle intensifies.
“We hope the Iraqi army come to our rescue and liberate us because ISIS is threatening to kill us,” they said.
Ramadi was captured by ISIS militants in May in a second humiliating defeat to the Iraqi army after the fall of Mosul in June 2014.
Iraqi troops announced on Thursday that they regained control of western Ramadi including two important bridges.
Brigadier Abdulghani Al Asadi said that a number of families are stranded in Ramadi and they have been asked through leaflets to leave the city ahead of the final assault on to retake the Sunni city west of the country.
