Urban Combat in Iraq: Ramadi Civilians Force Adjustment in Fight Against Islamic State - Reuters
When Islamic State militants fleeing the Iraqi military's advance in Ramadi tried to force Mohammed Nafaa to follow them across the city for the fourth time in as many months, he and his family hid inside and hoped to be left alone.
After the militants retreated again last week, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces evacuated Nafaa and scores of other residents who had been hiding for around ten days, steering them to safety through streets mined with explosives.
Ramadi has been touted as the first major success for Iraq's U.S.-backed army since it collapsed in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance across the country's north and west in mid-2014.
But clearing the city from militants and explosives could take weeks. And the discovery of more civilians than expected trapped among the ruins, after what the survivors say was a deliberate effort by fighters to use them as shields, suggests future battles against Islamic State could be more complicated…