Civiliansa fleeing ISIS in Ramadi,rounded up and arrested in Iraq

Hundreds of civilians who escaped the Iraqi city of Ramadi after it was seized by ISIS in last week's bloody insurgency have been rounded up and arrested by Iraqi militia - because they were suspected of being terrorists in disguise.

New footage appears to show huge numbers of Iraqi refugees shackled in chains to one another and being led single-file through a desert region of Anbar province.

Reports suggest the civilians were arrested by members of an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia group called Popular Mobilisation who control and police Baghdad.

More than 55,000 people fled Ramadi when Islamic State seized control of the city on May 17 and slaughtered around 500 in the process.

Chained: Shocking new footage appears to show hundreds of Iraqi refugees (pictured) who fled Ramadi being rounded up and arrested by Iraqi militiamen

Detained: They were arrested because they were suspected to be the ISIS militants they are trying to escape

Thousands of people who fled the bloody takeover of Ramadi this month have been stuck at Bzeibez bridge which connects Anbar to Baghdad for days having been barred from leaving Anbar.

Some were finally allowed into Iraq's capital city two days ago but restrictions on those fleeing violence in Anbar is forcing some to return straight back into dangerous conflict zones, one aid group has claimed.

Mark Schnellbaecher of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said: 'Thousands of people fleeing Ramadi are stuck at checkpoints or being denied entry to safe areas. 

'For some people, the situation has become so hopeless that they are returning to the conflict in Ramadi.

The IRC claims security checks on homeless families are inconsistent and some soldiers simply placed a blanket ban on men.

Exodus: Over 55,000 people from Ramadi were made homeless when ISIS seized their town and many of them were blocked from crossing the Bzeibez bridge (pictured) which connects Anbar to Baghdad

Fear: Iraqi refugees (pictured) have been forced to turn back into conflict zones like Ramadi because of the intense restrictions being put on their movements, one aid group said

Schnellbaecher added: 'Security checks should never be arbitrary or discriminatory, and every effort should be made to keep families together.'  

Of the 2.8 million people who were made homeless by insurgents who have torn through towns and villages in Iraq since the start of 2014, around 900,000 of them are from Anbar, according to the United Nations.

A vast coalition of Iraqi government troops and a coalition of local militia fighters converged in the region to wrestle Ramadi back from ISIS control.

But the extremists have today unleashed a wave of suicide attacks targeting Iraq's forces in the western regions of Anbar killing at least 17 soldiers, a military spokesman has said. 

The attacks came just hours after the Iraqi government announced the start of a wide-scale operation to recapture areas under the control of the IS group in Anbar. 

Counter-attack: Overnight, Islamic State's suicide bombers attacked the Iraqi forces and paramilitary groups (pictured yesterday) who vowed to retake Ramadi from their control 

Insurgency: At least 17 government troops (pictured yesterday) were killed after the extremists blew themselves up in their military positions in Fallujah, Anbar province

The bombings took place outside the ISIS-held city of Fallujah late last night, the spokesman for the Joint Military Command said.

Brigadeer General Saad Maan Ibrahim added the militants struck near a water control station and a lock system on a canal between Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River where army forces were deployed for the counter-offensive.

He said it was not clear how many suicide attackers were involved in the bombings but they hit the military from multiple directions.

And the Iraqi government has vowed to retake the province by launching a large-scale military operation less than two weeks after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the extremists in its provincial capital Ramadi. 

Iraqi forces have begun moving in from their base at Habbaniyah, around 23 miles east of Ramadi, according to a Pentagon spokesman. Colonel Steve Warren added that ISIS fighters are now moving towards them. 

Elsewhere in Anbar province, Islamic State last week captured the al-Waleed border crossing with Syria.

Terrorist: As well as seizing Ramadi (pictured), Islamic State last week captured the al-Waleed border crossing with Syria