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UNITED NATIONS, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations scaled up humanitarian aid to people fleeing the Iraqi city of Fallujah, currently held by the Islamic State(IS), as the humanitarian crisis unfolds there, a UN spokesman said here Wednesday.
"Displacement is dramatically increasing as military operations in Fallujah continue," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here, adding that more than 20,000 people have fled Fallujah, near the capital city of Damascus and its surrounding areas since May 22.
"Humanitarian workers are receiving reports that hundreds more families are trying to flee," he said.
The eight camps prepared in advance have been stretched to their limits. The Iraqi government and the UN and its partners are working to rapidly scale up camps and other assistance in preparation for possibly tens of thousands of more people that could leave Fallujah in the next days.
"But more resources are needed to ensure that assistance is sufficient," Dujarric said. "All of the UN and our partners' resources are directed towards providing assistance to people fleeing Fallujah."
Iraqi civilians who escaped the IS-held Fallujah told UN that there may be up to 90,000 people inside the besieged city.
Thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire in and around Fallujah as Iraqi government forces and allied militias are trying to recapture the city.
Iraqi government troops and allied militias have currently been fighting for months to reclaim key cities and towns in Anbar from IS militants, who attempted to advance toward Baghdad after seizing most of Anbar province.
Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence since the Islamic State controlled parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.
The Iraqi government has established a number of camps for the 60,000 people already displaced in Anbar, and in anticipation of movement from the Fallujah area. The United Nations warned that these facilities are overstretched, with little capacity to absorb more people. Enditem
