News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

With packed cars lined up for as far as the eye can see, this image appears to show desperate civilians fleeing a bloody war zone.

But not all is at seems.

The cars in this image actually show ISIS fighters escaping from the Syrian town of Manbij, using civilians as human shields to prevent them from being attacked.

The sickening picture, which was taken last Friday, was released by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Despite the vast amounts of ISIS militants making the journey, they were allowed to travel free from attack because of the huge number of civilians they used as shields.

(Image: Twitter@SDF_Press_1) (Image: Twitter@SDF_Press_1)

Fighters for the SDF took control of the town after an offensive by a US-led coalition.

As reported by the BBC, about 200 militants for the terror group then collected their family members as well as civilian hostages.

The hostages were then placed among the militants in every single vehicle as it travelled north towards Turkey.

(Image: Twitter@SDF_Press_1)

Baghdad-based US-led coalition spokesman Col Chris Garver said: “We had to treat them all as non-combatants. We didn’t shoot. We kept watching.”

Many of the civilians were later released with some managing to escape.

It is thought the militants headed towards the Turkish border.