Here are the faces of collateral damage.
These displaced Iraqi families flew a white flag on Thursday in hopes of dodging gunfire and bombs during fierce fighting in war-torn north and central Iraq.
The refugees were taking shelter just west of the city of Samarra as Iraqi security forces sought to retake the town from savage Islamic State fighters.
US-led coalition bombers have been supporting the Iraqi soldiers, police and paramilitary forces since this campaign began on Tuesday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the on region on Thursday.
The prime minister rejected calls from some regional lawmakers who oppose Iraqi forces using Shiite fighters to liberate ISIS-controlled cities that have majority Sunni populations.
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilisation units pose with a Islamic State group flag.Getty Images “Nobody can stop Iraqis from participating in the liberation of their land,” al-Abadi said.
Huge swaths of central, western and northern Iraq have been under siege by ISIS since the terror group swept through the region in June 2014.
Iraqi and allied forces are fighting hard to retake Samarra, and clear supply lines to Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, which is about 200 miles north and under ISIS control.
Iraqi officials have another concern just outside of Mosul: a cracking dam that could kill up to 1.5 million people if it bursts.
After decades of neglect and nonstop warfare, engineers fear the Mosul Dam could be breaking apart and could unleash waters from the Tigris River.
Baghdad announced this week that it had hired an Italian firm to patch up the shaky barrier over the next 18 months for $296 million.
“Contract signed with Italian firm Trevi Group to reinforce and maintain Mosul dam,” al-Abadi tweeted Thursday.
“Important milestone as our troops continue their advance.”
The Iraqi government struggled to balance its message, insisting the fears about the dam coming apart are overstated.
But at the same time, US and Iraqi officials have advised residents near the dam to move at least 3¹/₂ miles away from the potential disaster site.
“A catastrophic breach of Iraq’s Mosul Dam would result in severe loss of life, mass population displacement, and destruction of the majority of the infrastructure within the path of the projected flood wave,” according to a statement earlier this week from the US Embassy in Baghdad.
With Post Wire Services
