UN chief calls for protection of civilians in Iraq
Keeping people safe must be the ’absolute priority’
BAGHDAD // United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres yesterday called for the protection of civilians to be the “absolute priority” as he visited Iraq, where hundreds of thousands are caught up in the battle for Mosul. It came as a spokesman for the United States-led coalition fighting ISIL said the extremist group’s presence in Mosul was believed to be less than half the 2,000 estimated to be there when the Iraqi push for west Mosul began on February 19.
More than 200,000 people have left the city’s western areas since the operation began and officials and witnesses said air raids had taken a devastating toll on civilians who remain in the city.
Mr Guterres said on Twitter that he would “focus on the dire humanitarian situation on the ground. Protection of civilians must be the absolute priority”.
After his arrival in Baghdad, the UN chief met Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi, president Fuad Masum, parliament speaker Salim Al Juburi and foreign minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari.
“Iraq is in the final stages of its fight against terrorism,” Mr Guterres said.
“We are strongly hopeful that the liberation of Mosul will soon be completed.”
He will next visit Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
Mr Al Jaafari highlighted the issue of reconstruction in talks with the UN secretary-general – a major challenge in areas devastated by heavy fighting.
“Iraq needs a plan similar to the Marshall Plan to present assistance to Iraqis and support development and overcome the effect of war against ISIL,” Mr Al Jaafari said.
The Marshall Plan was a US effort to help western Europe recover from the devastation it suffered in the Second World War.
Displacement of citizens is another issue requiring attention. Camps have been set up around Mosul to provide shelter for the displaced, while others are staying with relatives, renting accommodation or residing in makeshift shelters or unfinished buildings. Displacement from Mosul had not reached the worst-case scenario of a million or more people that had been feared, but that has come at the cost of huge numbers of civilians being trapped in the middle of the battle. The UN said this month that there were about 600,000 civilians still in west Mosul, 400,000 of them trapped in siege- like conditions in the old city.
Yesterday , Iraq’s militarised federal police inched deeper into the old city, where they came up against resistance from ISIL militants.
First Lieutenant Walid Khalid of the 3rd brigade federal police said his troops advanced about 100 metres in the past two days.
“The distance between ISIL and us is 50 metres,” he said.
“Yesterday, we killed four ISIL fighters and right now their bodies are in the street.
“The situation is very good and the Iraqi air force is doing well.”
He said the troops were about 100 metres from the mosque where ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared the extremists’ self-styled caliphate in the summer of 2014.
Iraq asks for help to overcome the effects of war against ISIL