ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Four thousand people have fled Fallujah in the past 24 hours through a safe corridor opened up by the Iraqi army, confirmed a Norwegian aid agency on Sunday.
The safe corridor out of the city, known as al-Salam Junction, in the southwest of the city, was secured on Saturday, Joint Operation Command spokesman Brigadier-General Yayha Rasool told Reuters.
“There were exit routes previously, but this is the first to be completely secured and it’s relatively safe,” said Rasool.
On the same route just one day earlier, Islamic State militants killed at least 18 members of two families who were trying to flee.
In the past 24 hours, however, some 4,000 have been able to escape, confirmed Karl Schembri, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is on the ground assisting escapees.
“We expect thousands more to be able to leave in the coming days,” he said.
“We are of course relieved, but it also means we are completely overwhelmed as a humanitarian community,” Schembri confirmed to AFP.
There is a shortage of supplies for the escapees who are staying in camps that lack sufficient clean water, food, and medicine.
Baghdad tightly controls the movement of people and goods between the capital and Anbar province for security reasons. This is making it very difficult for aid agencies to deliver supplies to the residents of Fallujah.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to have invested so much in a military campaign to defeat Daesh and not provide lifesaving support to Iraqis in their hours of greatest need,” said Lise Grande, deputy special representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, speaking to Al Jazeera.
The delivery of urgent humanitarian aid has also suffered from massive underfunding, according to Schembri.
More than 20,000 people have been able to escape the city since the offensive began in late May, very few of them from the city of the centre. The United Nations estimates that up to 90,000 may still be trapped.
The safe corridor out of the city, known as al-Salam Junction, in the southwest of the city, was secured on Saturday, Joint Operation Command spokesman Brigadier-General Yayha Rasool told Reuters.
“There were exit routes previously, but this is the first to be completely secured and it’s relatively safe,” said Rasool.
On the same route just one day earlier, Islamic State militants killed at least 18 members of two families who were trying to flee.
In the past 24 hours, however, some 4,000 have been able to escape, confirmed Karl Schembri, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is on the ground assisting escapees.
“We expect thousands more to be able to leave in the coming days,” he said.
“We are of course relieved, but it also means we are completely overwhelmed as a humanitarian community,” Schembri confirmed to AFP.
There is a shortage of supplies for the escapees who are staying in camps that lack sufficient clean water, food, and medicine.
Baghdad tightly controls the movement of people and goods between the capital and Anbar province for security reasons. This is making it very difficult for aid agencies to deliver supplies to the residents of Fallujah.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to have invested so much in a military campaign to defeat Daesh and not provide lifesaving support to Iraqis in their hours of greatest need,” said Lise Grande, deputy special representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, speaking to Al Jazeera.
The delivery of urgent humanitarian aid has also suffered from massive underfunding, according to Schembri.
More than 20,000 people have been able to escape the city since the offensive began in late May, very few of them from the city of the centre. The United Nations estimates that up to 90,000 may still be trapped.
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