BAGHDAD -- The Islamic State group has been shooting at civilians as they try to flee the battle between militants and Iraqi government forces in the city of Fallujah, an international aid organization and the Iraqi military said.
On Sunday, the militants shot and killed seven civilians and seven Islamic State defectors inside Fallujah as they attempted to flee, Iraqi Maj. Ali Hanoon said.
Hanoon, who is with the elite Iraqi counterterrorism forces, on Monday put the number of civilians killed by the Islamic State group at "dozens" since the government's operation to recapture the city began late last month. Hanoon declined to be more specific, saying the information out of Fallujah is sporadic and often incomplete. Iraqi officials say the total is likely higher.
Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, have been fighting to retake the Islamic State-held city. The advance stalled last week because of heavy resistance from the militants and because an estimated 50,000 civilians remain trapped inside the city. On Sunday, Iraqi forces secured the southern edge of Fallujah, a largely agricultural area.
"They know that if they trap the civilians, it will slow our progress," Hanoon said.
Last week, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of civilians attempting to flee Fallujah, killing two people and wounding three, according to police.
From Baghdad, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with refugees and internally displaced Iraqis, said late Sunday that a number of fleeing civilians have been killed as they tried to cross the Euphrates River. Iraqi officials had no immediate information on those killings.
The group cited interviews with some of those who fled Fallujah.
"Our biggest fears are now tragically confirmed with civilians being directly targeted while trying to flee to safety," said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's director in Iraq. "This is the worst that we feared would happen to innocent men, women and children who have had to leave everything behind in order to save their lives."
The group said 2,980 families managed to flee from the outskirts of Fallujah in the early days of the Iraqi offensive, which started May 21. Only a couple of families have managed to escape from Fallujah since then, the group added.
The Fallujah operation in Iraq coincides with an offensive on Islamic State-strongholds in neighboring Syria. Syrian Kurdish forces are advancing on Manbij, an Islamic State-held city on the supply route between the Turkish border and the town of Raqqa, the militants' declared capital.
At the same time, Syrian government troops are advancing on Raqqa from the south.
Information for this article was contributed by Susannah George of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/07/2016