VIDEO: Iraqi Army Units Destroy ISIS Hidden Tunnels in Fallujah Offensive

They pushed deeper into the city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad after a protracted fight this week, under cover of heavy airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

Humvees drove through the Al A’toor neighborhood and Iraqi troops could be seen entering tunnels created by the Islamic State (ISIL / Daesh / ISIS) group, as plumes of thick smoke rose in the distance.

Humanitarian conditions for about 50,000 people trapped inside Fallujah are increasingly dire, according to the United Nations.

The fighting in Syria is part of a wider civil war that has consumed the entire country and killed more than a quarter-of-a-million people since March 2011.

Half the prewar population has been displaced and many have died due to sieges by one side or the other as food became another weapon of war.