Isis fighters prepare for coming raids

Displaced Syrians who fled their home in their country stand near tents that were burned by gunmen at a Syrian refugee camp. Photo / AP

Barricades and human shields said to be part of Isis defences in Iraq and Syria.

Jihadist fighters have begun preparing defences against American air strikes and a feared land-based counter-offensive in Iraq and Syria, residents living under their rule say.

Fighters from Isis (Islamic State) are mounting barricades, increasing checkpoints and booby-trapping the roads into Mosul in northern Iraq, they said.

Watch: Third westerner slain by Isis

They have also begun sending their families out of the towns to safeguard them.

Air strikes by American and French fighter jets killed scores of men in an Isis training camp and an arms depot near the city on Friday and Saturday. Residents estimated the number of dead at anywhere between 60 and 200.

Isis has also evacuated command-and-control centres in Mosul and Raqqa, the city in Syria which is the informal capital of Isis's "caliphate", and begun using Yazidi women captives as human shields in other key places.

"Two days ago, they left their main headquarters, and they moved to live inside our civilian neighbourhoods," said one Mosul resident, who asked not to be named. "They took over all the houses abandoned by their inhabitants, such as the houses of the Christians, former officials and people who left the city. They also use the poorer houses as stores for weapons."

In Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the north and Iraqi army and Iranian-backed militia forces nearer Baghdad have stabilised front lines and even pushed Isis back.

In Raqqa, their position is more secure and Isis has set up its headquarters in the ornate former governor's palace. They have pushed Syrian regime forces out of a number of major bases, killing hundreds of captives, and have been besieging Kurdish towns to the north.

Up to 100,000 Kurds and other local residents have fled to the Turkish border from the enclave that remains around the city of Kobane. There were violent scenes yesterday as refugees headed one way and Kurdish volunteers wanting to join the fighting headed the other.

Turkish police trying to control the crowd clashed with protesters who were angry that fighters were not being allowed through.

In Raqqa, residents said both they and the fighters were afraid of promised American air strikes. Isis was dispersing its vehicles and men so they do not become easy targets.

"People are afraid of the air strikes, that they might be used as human shields or be bombed," said Abu Mohammed, a local activist who is still living in the Syrian city even though Isis has put a price on his head. "Many people fled to the countryside or to Turkey. I can't say how many went but in my lane there are just 15 families left."

The Isis fighters are taking similar precautions of their own, he added. "When small planes for reconnaissance appear the jihadists hide. They even lock the doors of their headquarters. They also moved their families, their women and children, outside Raqqa."

In Mosul, where the local alliances that brought Isis to power are complicated, additional precautions are being taken by the jihadists against the risk of assassination of their leaders. There have been repeated reports of local anti-Isis hit squads attacking fighters.

The Mosul resident said four Isis fighters were killed in the middle of last week.

In Mosul and Raqqa, opinion has turned against Isis but it still has some residual support. Abu Mohammed, who runs the "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently" website, said 20 per cent of the population supported Isis, and the rest were divided as to whether they supported American intervention or not.

Hostage deal questioned

Turkey's Islamist President refused to quell growing concern yesterday over how he obtained the release of 49 hostages from jihadist Isis fighters in Iraq.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former Prime Minister who became the country's first directly elected President last month, denied he had paid a ransom for the diplomats and their families, who were seized when Isis overran Mosul in June.

"A bargain for money is totally out of the question. There were only diplomatic and political negotiations. And this is a diplomatic victory."

Erdogan has been increasingly attacked for not having done enough to seal Turkey's Syrian border, the main conduit for jihadists joining Isis from abroad as well as for weapons supplies.

Suspicions were aroused by the release of the 49 without a shot being fired. A website thought to reflect Isis thinking said the group had won guarantees that Turkey would not join air strikes or other military intervention.

Another report said the hostages had been exchanged for three top-level prisoners, something given credence by Erdogan's refusal to deny it.