Civilians drown fleeing life 'worse than hell' in Fallujah

A boat carrying fleeingcivilians across a river from the ISIS stronghold ofFallujah sank on Saturday, killing at least four people, aspro-Baghdad forces said they had the city almost completelyencircled.

Two children, their mother and a man drowned crossing the300-metre wide Euphrates, one the few escape routesleft for civilians hoping to leave the besieged town as the waragainst the militants intensifies.

Nine other people believed to have been on the boat remainedmissing, police said.

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"I've seen with my own eyes my family disappear under thewater," said Abu Tabarak, who watched from the ISIS-held side of the river as the boat sank with his wife, sonand daughter aboard.

"There was no place for me on the departing boat, so I hadwaited with my second daughter for the next one," he said bytelephone from hospital in Ameriyat Fallujah a town downstreamunder government control where the drowned bodies were taken.

"Life has become worse than hell in Fallujah; hunger, deathand shelling," he said, his voice breaking with grief.

"And after all that suffering, I lost my family before myeyes."

Abu Tabarak's family had spent four days picking their wayacross the city, moving slowly to avoid shelling, sniper fireand explosive devices.

His story highlights the plight of an estimated 50,000civilians in Fallujah, 50 kilometres from Baghdad, the firstIraqi city taken by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, in January 2014, as it seizedswathes of territory there and in Syria.

Already suffering shortages of water, food and medicines,the city is now under bombardment from Iraqi forces, alliedShia militias and aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition, asthey pursue the battle to retake Fallujah that began on May 23.

'At the gates'

A leader of the Iran-backed Shia coalition taking part inthe offensive said Fallujah was now all but encircled, the onlyside that had yet to be secured by pro-Baghdad forces being partof the western bank of the Euphrates.

"We are now at the gates of Fallujah," Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,deputy leader of the Popular Mobilization Force, told atelevised news conference.

Civilians have been using anything that floats to help themcross the river, provincial council head Shakir al-Essawi said.

"They are using empty refrigerators, wooden cupboards andkerosene barrels as makeshift boats," Essawi told Reuters. Hesaid more than 1,000 families had managed to get across.

"It's totally unsafe and this is why innocent people aredrowning."

Some die before even reaching the river, killed by sniperfire from ISIS lines or by explosive devices along theroads, said Jassim Alwan, a police captain in Ameriyat Fallujah.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on June 1 the offensiveon Fallujah had been slowed down in order to protect civilians.

Sunni politicians have voiced concern that the presence ofShiamilitias alongside the army in the battle could lead toan increase in sectarian violence.

Fallujah is a historic bastion of the insurgency against theU.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shia-led authorities who tookover after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.

The United Nations refugee agency said a total of about12,000 people had managed to flee since May 23, mostly from theoutskirts of the city.

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