90,000 escape fighting in Iraq
Pro-government forces and Islamic State clash in Ramadi. Aid groups struggle to help the displaced.
BEIRUT — More than 90,000 people are fleeing fighting in Iraq’s Anbar province, the United Nations said Sunday, as the Iraqi government and aid groups struggled to assist the legions of newly displaced.
“Our top priority is delivering lifesaving assistance to people who are fleeing: food, water and shelter,” Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement.
Pro-government forces have been engaged in intense clashes with Islamic State militants for control of Ramadi, Anbar’s capital, 60 miles west of Baghdad.
Iraqi commanders say they are rushing police and military reinforcements to Ramadi to prevent the city from being overrun. Street battles have been raging there and in outlying suburbs and towns, authorities say.
The nearby city of Fallouja has been under militant control for more than a year. But government forces have managed to maintain their presence in Ramadi.
Video from Iraq has shown columns of civilians f leeing the Ramadi area, carrying what few possessions they could manage to bring with them. Some lugged suitcases and satchels on their heads as they pushed forward among other escapees. Quite a few carried young children.
Many fleeing Anbar have been finding shelter in western and southern suburbs of Baghdad. Because of security concerns, authorities are reportedly restricting the numbers entering the Iraqi capital.
Conflict in Iraq has led to the displacement of at least 2.7 million Iraqis since 2014, according to the United Nations. The numbers have increased considerably since Islamic State militants overran a large swath of northern Iraq between June and August.
More than 500,000 people fled last year as the extremists took over the northern city of Mosul and nearby areas. Many of those were Christians, Shiite Muslims and members of the Yazidi sect, all fearing persecution at the hands of Islamic State, an extremist Sunni group.
But the exodus from Anbar, a predominantly Sunni province, shows how the conflict has displaced civilians across sectarian lines.