Syrians risk all in flight from Raqqa

An internally displaced woman who fled Raqqa city walks carrying a child near tents in a camp in Ain Issa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said

AIN ISSA, Syria/AMMAN (Reuters) - People from Raqqa are fleeing their city under cover of night as U.S.-backed forces close in on the Islamic State stronghold, running a gauntlet of minefields and hostile fighters instead of risking death in a major battle expected to begin soon.

Islamic State has used threats and coercion to stop people leaving, forcibly returning some to the city in an apparent effort to use them as human shields against the looming assault by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.