UN PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE CHEMICAL ATTACK IN MOSUL
BAGHDAD: The UN’S public health agency said on Thursday that it has trained 90 Iraqi medics in “mass casualty management,” with special focus on chemical attacks, as part of its preparations for Iraq’s operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group.
The extremist group, which has ruled Iraq’s second largest city for over two years, is believed to have crude chemical weapons capabilities, and Iraqi forces say they are prepared to encounter them on the battlefield.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that of the 700,000 people expected to flee Mosul, some 200,000 would require emergency health services, including over 90,000 children needing vaccinations and 8,000 pregnant women.
The operation to retake Mosul began on October 17 and is expected to last weeks, if not months. The fighting has not yet reached the city itself, which is home to more than a million people.
Iraq’s special forces on Thursday said that they have completed their objectives east of Mosul and were waiting for other forces to advance from the south in order to further isolate the city before moving in. “The operation has not been stopped and is proceeding as planned,” Brig Gen Haider Fadhil said.
Iraqi forces have been battling IS militants around the town of Shura, some 40km south of Mosul, in recent days. Officials have said the offensive is proceeding according to plan and that some operations are ahead of schedule.
The Mosul offensive is the largest Iraqi military operation since the 2003 Us-led invasion and involves over 25,000 Iraqi soldiers, Federal Police, Kurdish forces, Sunni tribal fighters and state-sanctioned Shiite militias.
Fighting units are approaching the city from the north, east and south, while the Us-led coalition is carrying out airstrikes and providing ground support.
The International Organisation for Migration says around 9,000 people have fled so far, but aid groups are preparing to receive 200,000 displaced people in coming weeks and fear many more could flee before the operation is over.
The United Nations’ refugee agency is shipping tents, blankets and other aid from the UAE to northern Iraq to help those affected by the military campaign.
The shipment, which left Dubai’s International Humanitarian City on Thursday, is expected to reach those affected as soon as Friday.