350,000 children trapped in west Mosul
Escape not an option for most families who are also runnning out of food, water and medicine
Iraqi forces and their allies, including the US and UK, must do everything in their power to protect children and their families from harm, and avoid civilian buildings like schools and hospitals as they push deeper into the city.
LONDON: Around 350,000 children are trapped in western Mosul, Save the Children warned on Sunday as Iraqi forces launched a fresh offensive on jihadists defending the strategic city.
“Iraqi forces and their allies, including the US and UK, must do everything in their power to protect children and their families from harm, and avoid civilian buildings like schools and hospitals as they push deeper into the city,” said the Londonbased charity’s Iraq country director, Maurizio Crivallero.
Maurizio Crivallero, London-based charity’s Iraq country director
He warned that escape is not an option for most families, who risk summary execution by fighters from the Islamic State group, sniper fire and landmines – but they are also running out of food, water and medicine.
“This is the grim choice for children in western Mosul right now: bombs, crossfire and hunger if they stay – or execution and snipers if they try to run,” Crivallero said in a statement.
He added: “Safe escape routes for civilians must also be established as soon as possible.”
The offensive to retake Mosul’s west bank that began on Sunday could be the most brutal fighting yet in a four-month- old operation on Iraq’s second city, where the leader of the Islamic State group declared a ‘caliphate’ in 2014.
The Iraqi government launched an offensive to reconquer Mosul on Oct 17, and declared east Mosul ‘ fully liberated’ on Jan 24.
Federal forces now face what was always one of the toughest challenges – the narrow streets of the Old City in Mosul’s west bank, which are impassable for many military vehicles.
Save the Children warned that “the impact of artillery and other explosive weaponry in those narrow, densely-populated streets is likely to be more deadly and indiscriminate than anything we have seen in the conflict so far”.
The 350,000 figure relates to people under the age of 18, a charity spokeswoman confirmed.
The first four months of the Iraqi offensive on Mosul were marked by relatively low displacement but the civilians who remain in the city’s west face more dangers than ever.
In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of protecting civilians by keeping them at home, and the mass exodus expected by humanitarian organisations did not occur.
Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said it remains to be seen if security forces are able to spare the lives of civilians in the latest assault.
“The Iraqi security forces were able to protect hundreds of thousands of civilians in eastern Mosul” and “their intention is to use a similar humanitarian concept of operations in western Mosul,” she said.
“If it develops that the army cannot protect civilians, then other arrangements will be made.
“That could include helping families cross the front line... ( and) opening humanitarian corridors.”
No official figures are available on the number of deaths during the offensive in the east.
But the government of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan said 14,000 wounded civilians and soldiers had been admitted to hospitals in Arbil since the start of operations on Oct 17. — AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraqi government forces launched a major offensive to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group on October 17, 2016.
Here are key dates: Battle for Mosul begins
October 17: Iraqi forces launch an offensive to drive IS out of Mosul, where the jihadists declared an Islamic ‘caliphate’ in June 2014.
IS overran Mosul and swathes of other territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, sweeping aside security forces ill-prepared to face the assault.
Tens of thousands of troops from army, police and counterterrorism units are thrown into the long- awaited counter- attack with air and ground support from the US-led coalition.
By the end of October, the army has recaptured the Christian town of Qaraqosh, 15 kilometres (10 miles) from Mosul. Dozens of other nearby towns are retaken within two weeks. Entering Mosul
Nov 1: The army says it has entered Mosul itself for the first time since June 2014.
Nov 3: IS chief Abu Bakr alBaghdadi breaks a year-long silence to urge his fighters to defend Mosul to the death, and the advance of Iraqi forces begins to slow down.
Nov 8: Kurdish peshmerga fighters say they have reached Bashiqa, a dozen kilometres (about eight miles) north of Mosul.
Nov 13: Iraq says it has recaptured Nimrud, an ancient city southeast of Mosul.
Nov 23: Shiite- dominated paramilitary units known as Hashed al- Shaabi say they have cut IS supply lines between Mosul and Raqa, the self-declared jihadist capital 400 kilometres (250 miles) to the west in Syria. Change of tactics
Dec 29: Government troops end a two-week pause by launching the second phase of their offensive on east Mosul with increased coalition support and improved coordination between fighting units.
Jan 4: A US-led coalition spokesman indicates the number of Western advisers in the battle has doubled to around 450. Tigris River bank
Jan 8: Iraqi units reach the Tigris River that divides Mosul and take up positions near one of the city’s five bridges, which have all been destroyed.
Jan 14: Elite forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service take control of the sprawling campus of Mosul University. Getting there January 18: The head of special forces announces the liberation of the east bank, two days after Iraqi forces reach the iconic Nabi Yunus shrine, also known as “Jonah’s tomb” and which IS destroyed in 2014.
Sporadic fighting continues for four more days however, and the western side of Mosul, home to the Old City and traditional jihadists’ bastions, is expected to offer much stiffer resistance.
January 24: The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS says that the east has been “fully liberated”, after pockets of IS fighters in the north are cleared. Battle for western Mosul
Jan 24: The UN warns that 750,000 civilians in western Mosul are “at extreme risk” as Iraqi forces prepare to attack IS fighters in that part of the city.
In February it adds that up to a quarter of a million Iraqis could flee their homes.
That figure comes on top of the 200,000 who have fled since Oct 17. Close to 50,000 of them have since returned to their homes.
Feb 19: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces the launch of operations to retake the western side of Mosul.
The initial phase of that offensive is expected to focus on Mosul airport, just south of the city. — AFP