As Mosul battle escalates, civilians caught in crossfire

whole families.”

Daesh’s tactics since the beginning of the offensive to drive them out of Mosul, which began in October, have been to deploy car bombs and snipers, rain shellfire on troops and residents alike and take cover among the civilian population.

On Friday, even as Ayed and his helpers waited with their carts, helicopters fired at positions in Mosul and forces further back launched Grad missiles into the city.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has said the fight to recapture the western half of Mosul has been “dirtier and deadlier to civilians” than the battle to retake the east, which was completed in January.

The New York-based watchdog said Iraqi Interior Ministry units had recently used non-precision rockets in west Mosul.

“Their indiscriminate nature makes their use in populated civilian areas a serious violation of the laws of war,” it said in a statement. Separately, the UN says it has received many reports of civilian deaths in airstrikes.

The number of civilians killed in the Mosul campaign — by Daesh, including executions, or by errant Iraqi and coalition fire — is unclear, with various estimates given by residents, watchdogs and the military.

The US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces with air power and military advisers admits causing unintentional civilian deaths.