A civilian has told China's Central Television (CCTV) that ISIS, who controlled the Iraqi village of Khrbirdan, in the northern Nineveh province, had been using various tactics including human shields to stave off the Iraqi army's advance on the village for two years, with the locals paying a heavy price.
Umar Zidane, who is now living in the Deebaka refugee camp in northern Iraq, said that it took a long time for the government to recapture the village. During the running battles, most villagers were forced to stay in their homes, however in order to aid their attempts to repel the attacking forces, ISIS extremists also used civilians as human shields.
"The extremists used villagers as shields at the beginning of the battle. They asked villagers to stand in front them and they hide behind the villagers and fired at Iraqi army," said Umar.
The village finally fell to government troops in March.