Flow of civilians from Iraq's Falluja slows as IS tightens grip

Iraqi soldiers prepare to go to battle against Islamic State militants at the frontline in Falluja, Iraq, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - About 40,000 residents of Falluja, Islamic State's besieged stronghold near Baghdad, have fled in the last three weeks, but a similar number are trapped despite the Iraqi army's attempts to secure escape routes for them, officials said on Tuesday.

Officials in Anbar province, where Falluja is located, said Islamic State was tightening control over civilian movement in the centre where the United Nations and a provincial official estimate around 40,000 civilians are stuck with little food or water.