Iraqi Army Soon to Storm Fallujah, Take Back from ISIS. Iraqi Army Soon to Storm Fallujah, Take Back from ISIS
ALLEN: And welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Let's update you on our top stories.</s>ALLEN: Iraqi security forces appear ready to storm Fallujah soon and take it from ISIS. But a big concern is the number of civilians the terrorists might be using as human shields. CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, is live in Baghdad right now. Any word on when Iraqi government forces will move in and what they're trying to do to avoid hurting or impacting civilians that are trapped in Fallujah, Ben?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, what we've seen in the last, almost two weeks since this offensive began, is that the Iraqi military and associated groups have been trying to clear the countryside around Fallujah. Fallujah is a fairly large city. Under normal times, it had a population of about 300,000. Yesterday, the Iraqi army announced they had been able to cut the last route into Fallujah. That is the town leading from Fallujah to Sackulawea (ph) in the northwestern area around the city. So now the city is completely surrounded. They're quite close to the edges of the town. [02:30:00:] For instance, in one area, they're just 400 meters from the neighborhood of Shu Hadel (ph), which is in the southwest of the city. But they've been hesitant to go inside, because we know there are hundreds of ISIS fighters who have dug trenches and tunnels around the city. They've been in control of Fallujah since January 2014. Just the other day, when the Iraqi army tried to enter the city from the south, there was an ISIS counterattack that went on for four hours. Now yesterday there were reports that the offensive had been halted, in part, because of concern about the approximately 50,000 civilians still inside the city, but those reports were denied by, among others, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi who said the offensive was ongoing and still on schedule. But as yet, they have not actually entered the city itself. And it's difficult to say at this point when exactly that's going to happen -- Natalie?</s>ALLEN: And, Ben, what do we know about Fallujah itself, what the city has endured under ISIS control?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, certainly in the initial period when ISIS took over, it actually was fairly calm and peaceful. Although obviously the restrictions imposed by ISIS upon people and simply the way they live their ordinary lives were quite difficult. But since September of last year, there's been a concentration of Iraqi forces, not completely surrounding the city, but around the city, and therefore it's been basically since then was the last time any sort of relief supplies were able to reach the inhabitants. There's an extreme shortage of food. Relief agencies say that many people are simply subsisting on old dates from the date groves around the city. There's a very severe shortage of medicine. There is food inside the city. It's very expensive. And much of it is being hoarded by ISIS itself. So the few people who have been able to get out tell stories of starvation, of mal nutrition, and of course horrific conditions in the hospitals -- Natalie?</s>ALLEN: And finally, Ben, if Iraq gets Fallujah back from ISIS, what would this victory mean overall to the fight to knock down ISIS in the region?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, symbolically, it would be extremely important, since it was the first city that is took control of. In practical terms, for instance, many of the car bombs that have plagued Baghdad in recent months, for instance, just a few weeks ago, there was a spate of car bombs which left around 200 people dead. On Monday, there were three car bombs in Baghdad, killing 22 people. Iraqi intelligence believes many of those car bombs and the suicide bombers are coming from -- or were coming from Fallujah. So to gain control of the city would perhaps stop this wave of attacks that's been happening. And beyond that, it's important to keep in mind that Fallujah is on the main road route from Baghdad to Jordan. And since Fallujah was taken over by ISIS in January 2014, that road has been either restricted in terms of traffic, or cut off altogether. So to restore that route -- land route between Jordan and Baghdad would be good for Baghdad, and also good for Jordan as well. So you have a variety of implications, quite positive, if the Iraqi army is able to crush is once and for all in Fallujah -- Natalie?</s>ALLEN: Thank you very much. Our man, Ben Wedeman in Baghdad for us on the fight to get Fallujah back. Thanks, Ben. Fighting and fleeing ISIS is all too real for one Yazidi family. A child only 6 years old, forced to build bombs for the terror group. Unlike so many others, she and her family escaped. Arwa Damon has their story from northern Iraq.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ashia twirls the end of her braid as we try to talk to her. Under ISIS captivity, the emir had ordered her to assemble bombs. Her mother, Delleen (ph), cradling her youngest, says she barely speaks and is now afraid of strangers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): The work to make the bombs was at the basement of the building we were in. It took my daughter from 5:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.</s>DAMON: Aisha was only 6 years old at the time. ISIS threatened to kill her if she refused to obey their orders. Ashia finally speaks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We were in a place and they would dress us in all black. There was material and sugar and powder. And we would weight them on a scale and heat them and pack the artillery.</s>DAMON: An ISIS militant would then place the wires to complete the bomb. The family was among the thousands of Yazidis captured by ISIS. The last time Delleen (ph) says she saw her husband, his arms were in the air and he was being marched away. Delleen (ph) was sold and raped regularly. She did not resist. The children's lives were at stake. But she also knew that she had to escape before Ashia turned of age, where ISIS would consider her suitable for marriage. Finally, their captor left for an operation, giving Delleen (ph) the chance to call a relative, who was already smuggling captive Yazidis out of ISIS territory.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I begged him to hurry up and get us before they would take my daughter.</s>DAMON: She tells us she can only hope that one day perhaps Ashia will forget she was an ISIS slave and will know what it is to be happy. As for her, it's too late.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): My husband is always on my mind. I'm always aware that he's not with me. So I cannot forget what we went through.</s>DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Dohuk, northern Iraq.</s>ALLEN: Tune in Friday for Arwa's reports on Iraq, investigating is atrocities and the suffering of Yazidi women under is rule like the story you just heard. "ISIS in Iraq" airs Friday at 4:30 in the afternoon in London. The rush is on right now to save priceless works of art from flooding. Rising waters are moving closer to the Louvre in Paris. CNN's international correspondent, Jim Bittermann, is live there. This must be historical flooding for the city, and has the Louvre ever been in a position like this, Jim?</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has, actually, Natalie. There have been times in the past when they had to evacuate the works of art, especially in the basement. In fact, we're watching the water levels rise right now. The water's at about almost 20 feet over their normal levels. And that's almost equal to the flood of 1982, which a lot of people remember here, including myself. And it could reach that high later on today. They're waiting to see, they think around midday the levels will be that high. At the Louvre, they've shut it down, so the staff can be pressed into service moving works of art from the basement. They're legendary because of the storage capacity they have. They're works of art people don't usually see. They're going to be moving the ones in the basement and priceless works of art down there, as well as across the river at the former train station, which was converted into a museum, and there as well, they're worried about the things stored in the basement. And the museum has been closed and the staff working today to bring things to upper floors -- Natalie?</s>ALLEN: That's got to be quite an undertaking, especially under these conditions as well. Also as far as the city as a whole, Jim, we've been seeing photographs and social media of the Seine River waters extreme high. How high are they, and what kind of threat does the river pose?</s>BITTERMANN: Well, in fact, it's pretty much of a threat right now. A lot of people who live along the seine in the House boats are really concerned, especially about the debris in the river. There's a lot of floating trees and debris from houses and things like that. We saw refrigerators there yesterday and all kinds of things floating down the river. So they're worried about that. They're worried about finding perhaps as the environmental minister said here just a few minutes ago, they're worried about finding perhaps some people who did not get out in time, who as the flood waters recede here, already it's known that two people have died because of the flood, including a horseman yesterday, a 74-year-old rider, whose horse was swept away. The horse managed to survive, but he did not. And there's a great deal of concern about the damage this is all causing. The pedestrian areas along the seine, which are on both banks, in fact, this is the time of year when they would be normally filling up the restaurants and cafes along the river, and in fact, they've been pretty much wiped out by this. A lot of the kitchen equipment has been damaged to the extent it will have to be replaced. So there's going to be a good deal of damage right here in Paris. I should just say this morning, one of the things that's happened, they've shut down one of the main commuter train lines, the RERC, which carries about a half million people per day in and out of Paris. It's been shut down because the waters have flooded the rail tracks in the Paris area. So it's a complicated picture this morning, and also a lot of traffic on the roads because the people can't use the trains and some of the metro stations have been closed down. They've been taking cars and that caused gigantic traffic jams as we've seen this morning -- Natalie?</s>ALLEN: Enduring quite a lot. And it's not just Paris we know, but surrounding regions as well. We thank you. Jim Bittermann, with the latest on the flooding in Paris. Thanks, Jim. Prince, killed by an accidental overdose of a powerful painkiller. Next here, details on his toxicology report and why the drug can be so deadly.