Hawija refugees say city deserted ahead of looming offensive

 
KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region-- The Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, is virtually a desolate city as thousands of residents have fled the town over the past week fearing an imminent offensive by US-led coalition forces to drive out militants, according to refugees from the area.
 
At least 2000 local people from Hawija and surrounding towns of Riyadh and Rashad left their areas in the past week and sought refuge in Kirkuk where patrolling Peshmerga units received them after routine inspections.
 
"It's a daily thing now with people coming in various numbers," said Colonel Safar Besari of the 11th Peshmerga Brigade in Kirkuk.
 
"When they arrive the intelligence office questions them and after inspections they will be assisted to other locations in Kirkuk," he said.
 
With just over 400,000 inhabitants, predominantly Sunni Arabs, Hawija district has been at the center of insurgency since 2004.
 
When the Iraqi army withdrew from the area in June 2014, tribal fighters affiliated with ISIS took charge of the city. 
 
Iraqi forces have pushed back the militants in several areas near Hawija which is regarded a strategic city at the crossroads between Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces.
 

Hawija's northern borders are within the reach of Peshmerga fire power and the Iraqi army's southern offensive has nearly paralysed ISIS movements outside the city.

 

"We left our homes at 11 pm and took a huge risk," said Hamdan Khalaf a resident from Hawija who fled the city together with several other families on Friday night. "We arrived here at around 5 in the morning, the next day, it was a difficult trip for the children especially," Khalaf told Rudaw.