Hundreds of thousands of leaflets have been dropped on Rawa and al-Qaim with safety instructions to residents, the Anbar Operations Command said Tuesday (October 24th).
ISIS is preventing the residents from leaving the Anbar province towns so it can use them as human shields, command spokesman Col. Mohammed al-Dulaimi told Diyaruna.
"The instructions tell residents to keep away from ISIS headquarters and listen to the local military radio station for regular updates," he said.
They also instruct them to stay home once Iraqi forces start advancing towards their towns, and to store food and water until after the end of the liberation operation, he said.
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces are trying to secure safe passages for residents who wish to flee ahead of the battle, he added.
