Clashes between Iraqi tribesmen and the ISIS group in Fallujah have halted after the extremists detained dozens of residents of the city west of Baghdad, officials said Sunday.
Tribesmen in three areas of the city “withdrew from the clashes (with ISIS), fearing for the fate of the detainees”, an army lieutenant colonel told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The clashes stopped because of the imbalance of power and fear that the detainees would be executed,” said Issa Sayir who was appointed by the Anbar governor to administer the Fallujah area.
Raja Barakat, a member of the provincial council in Anbar, where Fallujah is located, said: “We now fear that the (ISIS) organisation will carry out a massacre in the city.”
Sayir estimated the number of detainees at around 60, while the lieutenant colonel said the figure was over 110 and a tribal leader said more than 100.