Over 1Million Civillain Currently Use As Human Shied By ISIS Over Massive Troops Attack

The eastern suburbs of ISIS-held Mosul are in sight, but the Iraqi forces trying to liberate the city are still struggling to get there.
ISIS snipers, relentless gunfire and mortar shelling are still keeping troops from penetrating the city's
border.


CNN Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon, traveling with US-trained Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, was just 200 meters from Mosul's eastern perimeter on Wednesday, with just a barren berm between her and more than a million civilians trapped in the city.

"There is no escape route. There have been no routes that anyone has established in fact for the civilian population to leave," she said.

"If the people inside Mosul were to try to make a run for it, they're also risking their lives trying to save themselves."

ISIS has controlled Mosul for more than two years, imposing its own brutal version of Islamic sharia law, responding to "offenses" such as smoking and shaving beards with medieval-style punishments.
Iraqi forces on Wednesday were trying to clear the road to the key city having freed dozens of villages along the way. They were firing guns at IEDs and anyone considered a "suspect" as they moved slowly down the road.

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Another journalist heard an Iraqi commander tell his unit: "Deal with any civilian as an enemy until we know otherwise." People who are proven not to be "hostile" can take cover inside a nearby mosque, he said.
Forces were using an armored bulldozer to clear trucks and boulders placed by ISIS on the road to slow the troops' advance.

Civilians living on the outskirts of Mosul told Reporter that ISIS fighters who lived in their village just days ago have fled into the city. Some fighters have gone to join the fight, while witnesses say some others and their families have been seen on buses, heading for the city's west and, most likely, to Syria.

Officials have warned that entering Mosul will likely trigger the fiercest fighting seen yet in the offensive, and with it a major challenge -- differentiating fighters from civilians.

ISIS is believed to have readied thousands of people to be used as human shields in the city, making targeted strikes incredibly complicated. Civilians have been advised to hunker down in their homes during the operation.