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Escapees from Besieged Fallujah Get Emergency Aid

The United Nations refugee agency was delivering relief supplies Friday to some 800 people who have managed to escape the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah over the past few days. The U.N. refugee agency reports conditions in Fallujah are worsening as the Iraqi government continues its military offensive to re-take the city, which was captured […]

Lisa Schlein writes for Voice of America:

The United Nations refugee agency was delivering relief supplies Friday to some 800 people who have managed to escape the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah over the past few days.

The U.N. refugee agency reports conditions in Fallujah are worsening as the Iraqi government continues its military offensive to re-take the city, which was captured by Islamic State militants in January 2014.

While several hundred people have managed to escape the besieged city, the UNHCR says some 50,000 civilians remain trapped inside.  It says IS militants are preventing them from leaving and heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces is increasing the danger.

The agency is appealing to the government to open safe corridors so civilians can safely leave and receive life-saving assistance.  UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says people who managed to escape have described harrowing tales of their journey.