Mosul Old City residents spend hungry, fearful Ramadan under Daesh rule
BAGHDAD: For Salam, a resident in the Daesh-held Old City of Mosul, the holy fasting month of Ramadan this year is the worst he has seen in a lifetime marked by wars and deprivations.
“We are slowly dying from hunger, boiling moldy wheat as soup” to break the fast at sunset, the 47 year-old father of three said by phone from the district besieged by Iraqi forces, asking to withhold his name fearing the militants’ retribution.
The only wish he makes in his prayers is for his family to survive the final days of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” declared three years ago by Daesh’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi from a nearby mosque.
The eight-month old US-backed campaign to capture Mosul, Daesh’s de-facto capital in Iraq, reached its deadliest phase just as the holy month started at the end of May, when militants became squeezed in and around the densely populated Old City.
Up to 200,000 people are trapped behind their lines, half of them children, according to the UN.
Hundreds have been killed while trying to escape to government-held lines, caught in the crossfire or gunned down by Daesh snipers. The militants want civilians to remain in areas under their control to use them as human shields.
Many bodies of the dead remain in the street near the frontlines. Four of them are relatives of Khalil, a former civil servant who quit his job after Daesh took over Mosul.
“Daesh warned us not to bury them to make them an example for others who try to flee,” he said.
Those who decide not to run the risk of fleeing are living in fear of getting killed or wounded in their homes, with little food and water and limited access to health care.
“Seeing my kids hungry is real torture,” said Salam, who closed his home appliances shop shortly after the start of the offensive as sales came to a complete stop.
“I wish the security forces would eliminate all Daesh fighters in a flash; I want my family to have normal life again.”
Where food can be found, the price has risen more than 20-fold. A kilo of rice is selling for more than $40. A kilo of flour or lentils is $20 or more.
The sellers are mainly households who stockpiled enough food and medicine to dare sell some, but only to trusted neighbors or relatives, or in return for items they need. If militants find food they take it.