Civilians need aid ahead of Mosul fight
IRAQ: The United Nations said it was ’’racing against the clock’’ to prepare emergency aid for hundreds of thousands of endangered civilians in Mosul with an Iraqi army offensive looming to oust Islamic State from the western half of the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider alAbadi confirmed yesterday that government forces had taken complete control of eastern Mosul, 100 days after the start of the United States-backed campaign to retake Iraq’s second largest city from Islamic State insurgents who seized it in 2014.
UN officials estimate 750,000 people remain in Mosul west of the Tigris River that flows through the last remaining major urban centre held by Islamic State in Iraq, after a series of government counteroffensives in the country’s north and west.
The west side could prove more complicated to take than the east as it is criss-crossed by streets too narrow for armoured vehicles, allowing militants to hide among civilians.
The Sunni Muslim jihadists are expected to put up a fierce fight as they are cornered in a shrinking area of Mosul.
‘‘We are racing against the clock to prepare for this,’’ UN humanitarian co-ordinator Lise Grande said.
Humanitarian agencies were setting up displaced people camps accessible from western Mosul and pre-positioning supplies in them, she said.
‘‘The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing,’’ she said.
’’Prices of basic food and supplies are soaring. Many families without income are eating only once a day. Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm,’’ Grande said.
Government forces yesterday finished clearing the last eastern pocket held by militants – the northern suburb of Rashidiya, Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, commander of the northern front, said.
‘‘I now call on these [armed forces] heroes to move quickly to free what remains of Mosul, especially the right [western] side,’’ Abadi said.
He also said US President Donald Trump has sent messages offering to increase the level of assistance to Iraq.
Trump has made the fight against Isis a foreign policy priority. – Reuters