U.N.: 8,000 flee as Iraqi forces enter western Mosul
It also noted “high” trauma casualty rates from western Mosul, with at least 75 civilians treated near the front lines over the past week and warned the situation for the estimated 750,000 civilians remaining in western Mosul “is desperate” as supply lines have been cut off, in particular the highway from Mosul into neighboring Syria.
Citing eyewitness accounts, OCHA said civilians still in western Mosul are enduing shortages of everything — from food and water to gas, heating oil and medical supplies. The prices of staples such sugar and potatoes have gone up.
Associated Press footage from the village of al-Salam southwest of the Mosul airport shows hundreds of civilians trickling to a gathering point in an open and dusty area, carrying a few of their possessions in bags. Security forces separate the men from the women and children before they are taken away in buses and military pickup trucks.
Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces moved into western Mosul’s Shuhada neighborhood amid fierce clashes with IS militants as federal police units continued clearing up Gawsaq, a neighborhood retaken on Monday from IS, according to special forces and police officers.
A mortar round landed in one of the streets, killing three civilians and wounding a fourth, another police officer said, as security forces scrambled to evacuate civilians to safe areas. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
The offensive to capture Mosul is the biggest military operation in Iraq since American troops left in 2011. Iraq’s second-largest city has been under IS rule for more than two years and remains the Islamic State group’s last urban stronghold in Iraq.