Thousands of kids trapped in war-ravaged Mosul

ABOUT 350 000 children were trapped in western Mosul, Save the Children warned yesterday 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,” the Londonbased charity’s Iraq country director Maurizio Crivallero said.

He warned escape was not an option for most families, who faced summary execution by fighters from the Islamic State group, sniper fire and landmines – and they were 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. “Safe escape routes for civilians must be established as soon as possible.”

The offensive to retake Mosul’s west bank could be the most brutal fighting yet in a four-month 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 October 17, and declared east Mosul fully liberated on January 24.

Federal forces now face the toughest challenges – the narrow streets of the Old City in Mosul’s west bank, impassable for many military vehicles.

Save the Children warned that “the impact of artillery and other explosive weaponry in those narrow, densely populated streets was likely to be more deadly and indiscriminate than anything that had been seen in the conflict so far”. – AFP