Ramadi, Mosul, now ISIS wants Baghdad.
Over 20,000 innocent Iraqis are stranded in a deadly no man's land between ISIS militants in Ramadi and potential safety in Baghdad 60 miles to the east, where they are cruelly being refused entry.
The terror group slaughtered over 500 people over the last few days to seize control of Ramadi - their biggest military victory in over a year - before holding a a twisted celebratory parade on its blood-stained streets.
The thousands who were forced from their homes are now living in the open - many without shelter and dwindling aid - in small towns like Amiriyat Fallujah on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Iraq's military will not allow them to cross the Euphrates river and into the city because it can not confirm they are not ISIS militants, aid agencies in Baghdad have told MailOnline.
The country's army amassed around Ramadi yesterday, and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias have also marched towards the city in a bid to recapture it. But counter-terrorism analysts say this move could result in an all-out sectarian bloodbath with the Sunni fanatics.
Meanwhile reports that ISIS has seized yet another village between Ramadi and its controlled territory in Fallujah indicates they are moving east towards Baghdad.
It means those stuck on the Baghdad's peripheries are vulnerable to attacks should the terror group keep advancing towards the city, according to the DARY Humanitarian Organisation in the city.
Its President Alaa Obiead told MailOnline: 'There were more than 8,000 people fleeing violence and fear of being killed by Islamic State and I expect that figure has now reached more than 20,000.
'I can also confirm that other people are trapped in their homes in downtown Ramadi because of the control of Islamic State there.
'A lot of people from Anbar are stuck in Amiriyat Fallujah without shelter because of the closure of the only bridge leading to the capital, Baghdad.
Helpless families are refused entry into the city - which has gone into military lock down - because soldiers can not verify they are actually civilians or the ISIS fighters who destroyed their home, he says.
And these civilians 'face dangers from all sides and many have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,' the Emergencies Division of Human Rights Watch has told MailOnline.
Government forces and allied Sunni tribesmen repelled another Islamic State attack on a small town between two of its controlled cities in Anbar province today, a tribal leader claimed.
ISIS began their offensive on Kahldiya - between Ramadi and Fallujah - just before midnight last night and took a small village on its outskirts, Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi said.
It indicates that ISIS are moving eastwards towards Baghdad and poses a serious threat to those stuck between the two cities.
Mr Obiead added: 'The situation portends a great disaster if the Iraqi armed forces and coalition forces delay the battle with ISIS for a short time.
'Their lives are in danger as long as Ramadi and all other regions of Anbar are a war zone and under the control of ISIS which has so far killed more than 700 civilians after they took control of large areas of Anbar.
'Especially since the humanitarian situation is very difficult because of the absence of international aid to them.'
Mutilated bodies scattered the streets of Ramadi - the 'Gateway of Baghdad' - where ISIS militants held a twisted victory parade after taking the key city.
ISIS released images of militants celebrating, children wielding automatic weapons and a fleet of pick-up trucks carrying its jubilant fighters through the blood-stained streets of Ramadi.
3,000 Shi'ite fighters yesterday launched a counter-offensive to recapture the city by amassing at the Habbaniya army base - around 20 miles east of Ramadi.
Islamic State's success in Ramadi, despite months of United States-led airstrikes, marked a new low for the defeated Iraqi army which retreated from the city this weekend.
A Pentagon spokesman said there would always be 'ebbs and flows' in Iraq's fight against ISIS , adding: 'It’s a difficult, complex, bloody fight, and there will be victories and setbacks.'
Army Col. Steve Warren also claimed Iraqi security forces and coalition partners will retake the city which is now 'largely under control' of the terror group.
Iraq's President Haider al-Abadi immediately turned to the Shi'ite militia groups backed by Iran, which together have become the most powerful military force in Iraq since the national army first collapsed last June.
This could turn into an all-out sectarian war between the Shia militias and Sunni fanatics ISIS, according to the Middle East director of counter-terrorism think-tank RUSI.
Gareth Stansfield told MailOnline: 'We're in for a very long summer of fighting in Iraq. Taking Ramadi will... make the Shia militia in Baghdad even more radicalised and more dangerous.
'And this is what ISIS wants, it wants it to come out and have sectarian scrap which forces all the Sunnis to go towards ISIS.
'If they had any opportunity to enter Baghdad, they would do. But it will be more and more difficult for them to do it because Baghdad is a military stronghold of the Shia militia.'
The 1,296 families who were forced to flee the city are among a staggering 2.8 million who have been internally displaced in Iraq since the beginning of 2014, the International Organisation for Migration says.
Displaced families went to Amiriyat Fallujah to the east but have not been allowed to cross the Euphrates and enter Baghdad province, it claims.
The United Nations agencies are rushing to offer humanitarian assistance to people fleeing Ramadi but the thousands of ration packs distributed are only sufficient for three days.
They have admitted that vital stocks for the tens of thousands homeless people who escaped death and destruction in Ramadi are running low and funds are running out.
The UN has said: 'Funding for these life-saving programmes is nearly exhausted. By June, 56 health programmes will be forced to close... In July, the food pipeline will break.'
'Nothing is more important right now than helping the people fleeing Ramadi,' its Humanitarian Coordinator has said.
Lise Grande added: 'Thousands of people had to sleep in the open because they didn't have places to stay. We would be able to do much more if we had the funding.'
source: ISIS march on Baghdad as Iraqis 'shut gates' to families fleeing Ramadi | Daily Mail Online
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Okay, so the Iraqi men, dropped their arms and ran away.. well let ISIS have Baghdad, let ISIS have Iraq. If you're not willing to be a man and fight for your country, then you are sheep to be sheared.
Over 20,000 innocent Iraqis are stranded in a deadly no man's land between ISIS militants in Ramadi and potential safety in Baghdad 60 miles to the east, where they are cruelly being refused entry.
The terror group slaughtered over 500 people over the last few days to seize control of Ramadi - their biggest military victory in over a year - before holding a a twisted celebratory parade on its blood-stained streets.
The thousands who were forced from their homes are now living in the open - many without shelter and dwindling aid - in small towns like Amiriyat Fallujah on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Iraq's military will not allow them to cross the Euphrates river and into the city because it can not confirm they are not ISIS militants, aid agencies in Baghdad have told MailOnline.
The country's army amassed around Ramadi yesterday, and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias have also marched towards the city in a bid to recapture it. But counter-terrorism analysts say this move could result in an all-out sectarian bloodbath with the Sunni fanatics.
Meanwhile reports that ISIS has seized yet another village between Ramadi and its controlled territory in Fallujah indicates they are moving east towards Baghdad.
It means those stuck on the Baghdad's peripheries are vulnerable to attacks should the terror group keep advancing towards the city, according to the DARY Humanitarian Organisation in the city.
Its President Alaa Obiead told MailOnline: 'There were more than 8,000 people fleeing violence and fear of being killed by Islamic State and I expect that figure has now reached more than 20,000.
'I can also confirm that other people are trapped in their homes in downtown Ramadi because of the control of Islamic State there.
'A lot of people from Anbar are stuck in Amiriyat Fallujah without shelter because of the closure of the only bridge leading to the capital, Baghdad.
Helpless families are refused entry into the city - which has gone into military lock down - because soldiers can not verify they are actually civilians or the ISIS fighters who destroyed their home, he says.
And these civilians 'face dangers from all sides and many have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,' the Emergencies Division of Human Rights Watch has told MailOnline.
Government forces and allied Sunni tribesmen repelled another Islamic State attack on a small town between two of its controlled cities in Anbar province today, a tribal leader claimed.
ISIS began their offensive on Kahldiya - between Ramadi and Fallujah - just before midnight last night and took a small village on its outskirts, Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi said.
It indicates that ISIS are moving eastwards towards Baghdad and poses a serious threat to those stuck between the two cities.
Mr Obiead added: 'The situation portends a great disaster if the Iraqi armed forces and coalition forces delay the battle with ISIS for a short time.
'Their lives are in danger as long as Ramadi and all other regions of Anbar are a war zone and under the control of ISIS which has so far killed more than 700 civilians after they took control of large areas of Anbar.
'Especially since the humanitarian situation is very difficult because of the absence of international aid to them.'
Mutilated bodies scattered the streets of Ramadi - the 'Gateway of Baghdad' - where ISIS militants held a twisted victory parade after taking the key city.
ISIS released images of militants celebrating, children wielding automatic weapons and a fleet of pick-up trucks carrying its jubilant fighters through the blood-stained streets of Ramadi.
3,000 Shi'ite fighters yesterday launched a counter-offensive to recapture the city by amassing at the Habbaniya army base - around 20 miles east of Ramadi.
Islamic State's success in Ramadi, despite months of United States-led airstrikes, marked a new low for the defeated Iraqi army which retreated from the city this weekend.
A Pentagon spokesman said there would always be 'ebbs and flows' in Iraq's fight against ISIS , adding: 'It’s a difficult, complex, bloody fight, and there will be victories and setbacks.'
Army Col. Steve Warren also claimed Iraqi security forces and coalition partners will retake the city which is now 'largely under control' of the terror group.
Iraq's President Haider al-Abadi immediately turned to the Shi'ite militia groups backed by Iran, which together have become the most powerful military force in Iraq since the national army first collapsed last June.
This could turn into an all-out sectarian war between the Shia militias and Sunni fanatics ISIS, according to the Middle East director of counter-terrorism think-tank RUSI.
Gareth Stansfield told MailOnline: 'We're in for a very long summer of fighting in Iraq. Taking Ramadi will... make the Shia militia in Baghdad even more radicalised and more dangerous.
'And this is what ISIS wants, it wants it to come out and have sectarian scrap which forces all the Sunnis to go towards ISIS.
'If they had any opportunity to enter Baghdad, they would do. But it will be more and more difficult for them to do it because Baghdad is a military stronghold of the Shia militia.'
The 1,296 families who were forced to flee the city are among a staggering 2.8 million who have been internally displaced in Iraq since the beginning of 2014, the International Organisation for Migration says.
Displaced families went to Amiriyat Fallujah to the east but have not been allowed to cross the Euphrates and enter Baghdad province, it claims.
The United Nations agencies are rushing to offer humanitarian assistance to people fleeing Ramadi but the thousands of ration packs distributed are only sufficient for three days.
They have admitted that vital stocks for the tens of thousands homeless people who escaped death and destruction in Ramadi are running low and funds are running out.
The UN has said: 'Funding for these life-saving programmes is nearly exhausted. By June, 56 health programmes will be forced to close... In July, the food pipeline will break.'
'Nothing is more important right now than helping the people fleeing Ramadi,' its Humanitarian Coordinator has said.
Lise Grande added: 'Thousands of people had to sleep in the open because they didn't have places to stay. We would be able to do much more if we had the funding.'
source: ISIS march on Baghdad as Iraqis 'shut gates' to families fleeing Ramadi | Daily Mail Online
............................................
Okay, so the Iraqi men, dropped their arms and ran away.. well let ISIS have Baghdad, let ISIS have Iraq. If you're not willing to be a man and fight for your country, then you are sheep to be sheared.
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