NEW YORK – Advances by Islamic State militants in the western Iraqi province of Anbar have forced as many as 180,000 civilians to flee since the city of Hit fell earlier this month, the UN has warned.
The displaced civilians will further swell the ranks of the 1.8 million Iraqis have been forced out by fighting this year, many seeking refuge in the Kurdistan Region. IS already controls swathes of Sunni-majority areas on either side of the Iraq-Syria border.
IS has been on the offensive in Anbar Province, which borders Syria, in recent weeks, taking Hit on October 2 and nearby Kubaisa on October 4, demonstrating the group’s ability to make gains along the Euphrates in the face of US-led airstrikes.
The IS advance forced 75 per cent of Hit’s population to flee, said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “The highway from Heet [Hit] to Baghdad was choked by pick-up trucks as families escaped the fighting and left with only basic household items,” it said.
ISIS fighters, believed to number some 30,000 are also continuing an offensive to take Kobane, a Syrian town on the Turkish border, from its Kurdish defenders.
Turkey has not offered help to Kobane’s Kurdish militia, raising tensions between Ankara and Washington.
There was confusion over what assistance Turkey had offered to provide in the fight against ISIS after US officials said at the weekend that Turkey had agreed to let coalition aircraft use its airbases to attack the militants. On Monday, Turkish officials said no deal had been struck on using the main base at Incirlik.
The US State Department did not respond to a request for clarification from Rudaw.
