More than 50 Islamic State families caught escaping Kirkuk

Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants caught more than 50 families of their fighters while trying to flee the group’s stronghold in Kirkuk, a local source in the province said Wednesday.

A group of local and foreign Islamic State members held more than 50 families of militants, all Iraqis, while trying to leave the enclave through a countryside road, the source told Alsumaria News.

“Some of the families apprehended were fleeing along with their sons who were group members,” according to the source.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command has said recently that Hawija was the next target for military operations against the Islamic State as the government troops had already recaptured Mosul, IS’s former capital in Iraq.

Local tribal leaders and politicians from Kirkuk have mounted pressure on the Iraqi government to hasten with invading Hawija, the group’s largest stronghold in the southwest of the province, suggesting that its people were experiencing a humanitarian crisis under the group’s rule as the group continues to massacre civilians attempting to flee the town. The group has also frequently executed fighters who fled the battle field.

The United Nations said it expects at least 85.000 civilians to be displaced by the upcoming battle.

Islamic State is still holding havens in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces.