(MENAFN- The Peninsula) RAQQA, Syria: As Shawakh al-Omar huddledwith 16 relatives in a single room in house in Islamic State'sSyrian stronghold Raqqa, a mortar round slammed into the homenext door, killing four people and shaking the building.
The 57-year-old decided they should make a run for it.
"We didn't even have time to bury the neighbours' bodies, wejust left," he said, sitting with daughters and grandchildren ondusty ground at a displaced people's camp near the town ofTabqa, nearly 50 km (30 miles) west, a day later.
Omar said the family was joined by almost the entireneighbourhood, who decided to flee at the same time during thenight as fighting between the militants and U.S.-backed forcesintensified.
"When we got to the main road, bullets from Islamic Statemilitants started flying by -- they were trying to stop usleaving. The Syrian Democratic Forces started firing back, so wemanaged to run to SDF territory," he said.
The family is one of hundreds who have made daring escapesfrom IS militants inside Raqqa as the U.S.-backed SDF closes inon the group in the city centre.
Thousands of people have had to move many times even afterfleeing to Raqqa's outskirts as the jihadists counter-attack andraid nearby, and the U.S.-led coalition's bombardments continue.
Many try to camp out near Raqqa before heading reluctantlyfor camps where the Red Cross describes "inhumane livingconditions", including lack of clean water and insufficientmedical services. The United Nations says at least 200,000people have fled Raqqa in recent months, and that up to 20,000civilians remain trapped inside.
Another family, squatting in a home in the city's westernoutskirts, described their escape by boat across the EuphratesRiver that runs south of the city several weeks ago, after thefinal assault in a months-old offensive to seize Raqqa from ISbegan.
"The whole neighbourhood decided to flee together, I'mtalking hundreds of people," Abdul Hassan Ibrahim said inSbahiya neighbourhood.
"Many got into boats or swam across the river -- we were 10in a small boat, and had to cling onto the sides and duckunderwater to avoid the bullets" being fired by militants, hesaid.
His 10-year-old son imitated the whizzing sound the roundshad made as they shot over the boat.
RAIDS AND DRONE BOMBS
Both families were relieved, but their ordeal is not over.Omar, who lives in a tent on the edge of their camp, still hasto make a final journey to a relative's home outside Tabqa.
Ibrahim, as he spoke, was asked by SDF fighters to leavetheir temporary home -- the third time they had moved sincefleeing -- because of ongoing fighting nearby.
"Where shall we go? I'm running out of ideas," Ibrahim said,scratching his head as an air strike sent debris flying into theair a short distance away in central Raqqa.
Islamic State fighters have launched attacks even away fromfrontlines and left many homes booby-trapped, said SDF fightersin Sbahiya, the area where Ibrahim's family was sheltering.
"It's still dangerous here -- there are snipers and housesare rigged with explosives," SDF intelligence official AbdullahMatar said. "We advise families to move on as soon as possible."
Matar said IS drones had dropped explosives in the area inrecent days, a tactic often used against U.S.-backed forces."Some local fighters will try to leave among the civilianpopulation. They've often hidden weapons in buildings on theedges of the city, which they come back for."
Militants raided a checkpoint several nights before innearby Qahtaniya village, he said.
Air strikes have killed many civilians, war monitors andresidents say, but people who have escaped say there are farfewer than the U.N. estimate of 20,000 people left.
Those who fled expect to remain homeless as the fightcontinues, destroying homes and making Syrians desperate.
"My own aunt asked for rent for us to stay with her,"Ibrahim said. "We've no mercy anymore."
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