Shocking images show aftermath of battle as ISIS butcher 500 and take key Iraqi town
THESE are the distressing first images of the embattled town of Ramadi in northern Iraq which has fallen to the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) regime.
Security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by ISIS extremists during a sand storm
Militants are said to have butchered 500 Iraqi civilians and soldiers in one of the most deadly assaults yet, using suicide bombers with explosive-laden cars to attack the city's main military base.
Witnesses on the ground have described harrowing scenes with bodies, some badly burnt, littering the streets after a series of mass killings.
A further 8,000 civilians have escaped from Ramadi in recent days with reports of soldiers fleeing the fighting by clinging to the side of trucks as they sped out of the city.
The key Iraqi town, which is just under 80 miles away from capital Baghdad, was taken control of by ISIS yesterday following weeks of heavy fighting.
Around 500 civilians and soldiers were killed by ISIS during the fighting
United Nations (UN) reports said 114,000 people were forced to flee the city in April during the height of the violence.
While the figures could not be independently verified, ISIS militants have been known to slaughter civilians en masse after major victories.
Among the shocking photos is one of nine-year-old Hala Hussein, who lost her left leg when ISIS extremists bombed her neighbourhood in the north of Ramadi.
Hala Hussein, 9, lost her leg when Islamic State extremists bombed her neighbourhood in Ramadi
Another image shows dilapidated tents housing refugees displaced by the fighting.
Security forces are also shown fighting as a sand storm struck the city.
According to an Iraqi officer, ISIS militants often take advantage of bad weather to attack army positions.
Civilians from Ramadi live in refugee camps in Habaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad
Government-backed Shiite militias have vowed to retake the capital of Anbar province.
Large numbers of anti-ISIS fighters have arrived at a military base near Ramadi ahead of a possible counter-offensive, alongside government forces.
Meanwhile, Iran’s defence minister General Hossein Dehghan has flown to Baghdad on a surprise visit for urgent talks with Iraqi leaders.
The shock defeat in Ramadi will cause particular concern among Iraqi officials as the city is less than an hour away from the capital Baghdad – within striking distance of the government, risking the potential collapse of the state itself.
Displaced Iraqis spent the night walking to Baghdad after the city fell to ISIS militants