BAGHDAD // As Iraqi forces close in on the western city of Ramadi, thousands of civilians are effectively being held hostage inside by ISIL militants who want to use them as human shields.
Iraqi forces cut the hardline group’s last supply line into Ramadi in November, surrounding the city and making it almost impossible for the militants to send in reinforcements.
But for thousands of residents who remain trapped inside the mainly Sunni city, life has become even harder as the militants grow increasingly paranoid, residents said.
Residents said conditions inside had deteriorated to their worst since ISIL overran it earlier this year.
“Daesh fighters are becoming more hostile and suspicious. They prevent us from leaving houses. Everyone who goes out against orders is caught and investigated,” said Abu Ahmed. “We feel we’re living inside a sealed casket.”
Ramadi, a provincial capital in the fertile Euphrates valley just a short drive west of Baghdad, was ISIL’s biggest conquest since last year. Reversing it would be a major victory for the Iraqi government and its spectrum of allies that include both the United States and Iran.
Residents say the militants have increased motorcycle patrols inside the city to catch those using mobile phones, which are banned in ISIL territory. High, empty buildings are also under surveillance.
“They [militants] are strangling us more and more. They treat us like prisoners,” said Abu Ahmed, speaking from the roof of his house to receive a weak phone signal with a cardboard box over his head so he would not be seen by ISIL patrols.
“I have to go now. I’m hearing Daesh motorcycles. I could lose my head if...” said Abu Ahmed said, ending the call mid-sentence.
Food supplies used to enter the city from the west, but since Iraqi forces surrounded it, residents are subsisting on meagre rations of vegetables and a small quantity of flour distributed by the militants.
“We are eating old bread with rotten tomatoes,” said another resident who preferred to be identified only as Omar, entreating God to rescue him and his family. “I feel I’ll be forced to kill the cat we raised for years if there is nothing left to eat.”
A shortage of cooking gas and kerosene has forced people to burn scraps of wood for fuel. Some said the militants had recently begun piling up branches and tree trunks in courtyards for families to use in cooking.
The militants used to provide fuel for neighbourhood electricity generators, but they no longer do, leaving residents without power for many hours.
“Daesh’s ugly face has appeared at last. They are treating women like animals. I feel I was born again now. I feel I was a slave,” said Um Mohammed, a physics teacher who fled Ramadi on Sunday with her elderly mother and is now in a temporary shelter south of Ramadi.
* Reuters
