The UN refugee agency is distributing more aid to displaced Iraqis who managed to escape Fallujah. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming has called for safe routes to be opened up to allow civilians access to life-saving assistance.

"Inside Fallujah, we have dramatic reports of the increase of the number of executions of men and older boys refusing to fight on behalf of ISIL. Other reports say a number of people attempting to depart have been executed or whipped. In addition, many people have reported to have been killed or buried alive under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations," said Melissa Fleming, UNHCR spokeswoman.

"For two-and-a-half years, families have suffered, after ISIL closed the exit routes from the city. Families are suffering from psychological problems, and some of them even took their own lives. Some of them set fire to themselves and some drowned their children. Some of them threw their kids onto the streets and left them there on their own because they didn’t have any food for them. As God is my witness, everything I say is true. This happened," said Alahin, displaced Fallujah resident.