IRAQ – As many as 20,000 children
are trapped on the frontlines of the battle for control of Islamic State-held
Fallujah, the UN has warned, as US-backed Iraqi government forces continue
their assault on the city.

Unicef has called on combatants in
Fallujah to allow safe passage for the children and families caught
up in the renewed fighting and said the children risk being drawn in as
fighters. ISIS has extensively publicised its use of child soldiers.

“Since the start of the
military operation in Fallujah, 60km west of Baghdad, very few families have
been able to leave. Most have moved to two camps while others have sought
refuge with relatives and extended families,” Peter Hawkins, Unicef’s
representative in Iraq warned.

“Unicef estimates that at
least 20,000 children remain trapped in the city. According to reports, food
and medicine are running out and clean water is in short supply.

“Children face the risk of
forced recruitment into the fighting, strict procedures for security screening
and separation from their families. Children who are recruited see their lives
and futures jeopardized as they are forced to carry and use arms, fighting in
an adult war,” he added.

The week-long
offensive to retake Fallujah has marked the most ambitious phase of
the Iraqi government’s fightback against ISIS since the militant group seized
vast swathes of territory in the country in 2014.

Following initial gains in the
south of the city on Tuesday, Iraqi government forces faced a four-hour
counter-attack by ISIS in the district of Nuaimiya, slowing the advance.

The ISIS counter-attack started
at dawn, with the militant group sending a wave of six vehicles, all of them
carrying explosives, towards the
Iraqi troops, AP reported.

Despite the scale of the attack,
which was supported by IS snipers and fighters using secret underground
tunnels, government forces were able to destroy the car bombs before they
reached their lines.