ISIS Using Entire Iraqi Families as Human Shields

Islamic State terrorists are reportedly holding thousands of Iraqi civilians as human shields.

"We've been told ISIS is literally lining up men, women, and children--whole families-in a 'human shield wall' as a defensive preparation for the oncoming siege for Mosul," said Vernon Brewer, president of World Help, a Christian humanitarian organization.

For several weeks now, Brewer's group, in partnership with local aid agencies, has been delivering food and other critical supplies to Iraqis escaping ISIS territory.

"People are escaping through the rough desert terrain, attempting a 40-mile journey under 120 degree temperatures without water or food," Brewer said. "Many-especially children and the elderly-have died in the desert; their bodies litter the escape routes these desperate families are taking to reach safety."

Local contacts tell World Help that ISIS fighters are using families as human shields in "villages between Fallujah and Mosul to deter the advance of the Iraqi army."

**Check out photos of World Help's food distribution in the Debaga camp.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has received similar reports, one claiming that ISIS fighters may have captured up to 3,000 fleeing Iraqi refugees.

"UNHCR has received reports that ISIS captured on 4 August up to 3,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) from villages in Hawija District in Kirkuk Governorate trying to flee to Kirkuk city. Reportedly, 12 of the IDPs have been killed in captivity," the UNHCR report said.

ISIS has a history of committing such acts. In 2014, Islamic terrorists took thousands of women and children hostage using them as sex slaves or child soldiers.

Recent U.S. and coalition force campaigns against ISIS have done little to stop the group's reign of death and destruction.

The U.N. estimates around 3,200 Yazidi women and girls are being held captive, where they "continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities."

Despite the threats, World Help says it continues to bring water, food, and other essential supplies to thousands of families fleeing the chaos and carnage in Iraq and Syria.

"The world has largely moved past the conversation on the crisis in Iraq, but we must not forget there are still tens of thousands of Iraqi families with real, urgent needs. That's why we haven't abandoned our work here," Brewer said.